comStar Firewall alert - PhaseThrough

capabilities and resources to do it right. It’s a big job—going in and
getting rid of cold-storage backups, checking into every consumer
database and deleting the records, deleting medical files (including
those hardcopy backups and storage of DNA samples), education
records, criminal records … . The organizations that offer “ID deletion”
services charge a high fee, and it’s worth every penny.
If you don’t have a SIN, the police may be able to run a search
on you, but they’ll come up blank, or with a fake SIN if you’ve
used one (or even worse, with multiple fake SINs if you haven’t
been careful to have those erased). It all depends on what criteria
they’re using to search and what biometric data is linked to your
SIN(s), real or not. If they don’t find anything with a search—
‘cause you’ve been careful up to now—that doesn’t mean they
won’t start compiling data. Leave a hair or some skin cells at a job
site and your DNA will be in a database somewhere, even if it just
labeled “unknown.” Eventually, if you keep running, chances are
they’ll catch up to one ID or another and all those “unknown” bits
of data will finally have a name to attach to them.
> I highly recommend everyone run periodic searches on their own
name and ID(s). If you can’t hack into Interpol’s Criminal Database,
get a hacker buddy to do it so you can see how close they are to really
tracking you down. With all the cold-storage backups, it can be a
pain to get data “erased,” but it is possible. It’s easier the earlier you
catch it, though, really.
> Glitch
> I’d highly suggest having your fake IDs erased by a professional
crew. Many of the syndicates and crews that create fake IDs will also
thoroughly erase those IDs that have gotten too “hot” to continue
using. If you don’t, the cops will eventually start linking all those
fake IDs to you, especially if they have biometric or forensic data
linked to them. Accumulated data like that is bad.
> Fianchetto
> You can expect to pay more, likely double or triple the normal rates,
if you want a crew to delete an ID that has forensic or biometric
data linked to it that’s stored at a police facility or is being used in a
current investigation.
> Haze
> This is why having a hacker as a friend is just so damn nice. We
do things like data searches and erase incriminating bits and bytes
before they come back to bite (or before they get downloaded into
cold storage).
> Pistons
> As a note, the “Hey, baby, want me to erase your life?” line is a bit
creepy. You might want to try something new.
> Turbo Bunny
> But that’s not what you said last week. ;>
> Slamm-0!
privacY: an UrBan Legend
Ok, so with all the surveillance, biomonitoring RFID
tags, and easily available data on your panty size, you’d think
privacy is a thing of the past, right? Not really. Privacy is real
Unwired
for those folks at either extreme of the socio-economic bell
curve. The SINless have privacy because they just don’t exist.
For the rich, privacy is a commodity that can be bought and
sold. With enough money and influence, you can remain above
all that corporate data-raking: keeping your purchases private,
ensuring that your education is from institutions that don’t
share student data, patronizing only those medical facilities
that promise the utmost discretion and back up those promises
with a hell of a lot of IC.
For the rest of the world, the average wageslave, privacy is a
very valuable illusion. Privacy laws are highly touted as protecting
citizens. The average citizen believes the data out there about
himself is there for his own good—medical records available for
doctors and medical facilities to share, ensuring his medical
conditions will be known regardless of where he is, his personal
information makes it easier to find potential dates, make shopping
easy, and keeps the neighborhood safe from gangers and
criminals. In his mind, his privacy hasn’t been invaded. And in
this self-obsessed, blogging, and virtual exhibitionist society, a
large percentage of the data available actually comes from the
wageslave himself.
SoUSveiLLance:
wHo wiLL watcH tHe watcHerS?
As obsessed with video-diaries, blogging, and citizen-journalists
as folks are, it shouldn’t be surprising that sousveillance is as
popular as it is. Watching other people is almost as fun as posting
information about themselves. For some, this is just another trendy
way to connect with a social network or watch the world through
another person’s point of view. By joining a Sous-MoSoSo, like the
Diaries, network members are outfitted with a constant recording
device (generally hooked up via an internal camera in cybereyes or
a camera imbedded within AR glasses or goggles) that records everything
(24/7/365) the wearer sees. It allows watchers to become
voyeurs—not of a specific person, but of the people around them.
You aren’t living their life or feeling their emotions, just seeing the
world through another set of eyes.
Other people use sousveillance to make a statement, to try
to police those who normally provide policing (like corporations,
governments, and other authority figures) and try to enforce some
level of honesty in an otherwise dishonest world. By recording the
actions of police, for example, they hope to bring accountability to
the officers who believe they’re above the law. It’s a nice theory and
it works on occasion—and can provide some very nice blackmail
material—but corporate powers tend to blackout negative press.
Sousveillance networks have sprung up to counter that, combining
with social networks to bring breaking news to millions of people
at once before a corporation or government can stop the flow
of information. Of course, that’s why corps have their corp spin
departments … .
SHrinking gLoBaL viLLage
The wireless Matrix has shrunk our world. The concept of
distant is no longer relevant to people connected by a simple
thought in the virtual world. For many, the virtual world is as real
as anything outside of it. “Neighbors” means who’s closest to you
on your social network, not who’s down the hall in your apartment
building. Breaking news in Hong Kong can cause panic or fear
Simon Wentworth (order #1132857) 9
27
Matrix overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .