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from the but-did-he-send-a-swab-to-FamilyTreeDNA dept.
In 2017, Jameson Lopp, who works in Bitcoin security decided to try, and has largely succeeded in becoming invisible.
Mr. Lopp viewed the exercise as something of an experiment, to find out the lengths he’d have to go to extricate himself from the databases and other repositories that hold our personal information and make it available to anyone willing to pay for it. That helps explain why he was willing to describe the steps he’s taken with me (though he did so from a burner phone, without disclosing his new location).
Lopp outlined the 15 steps he went through to accomplish this in some detail with clarifying information and explanatory notes.
1. Create a new corporate identity.
2. Set up new bank accounts and payment cards.
3. Carry cash.
4. Get a new phone number.
5. Stop using the phone for directions.
6. Move.
7. Make up a fake name for casual interactions.
8. Create a V.P.N. for home internet use.
9. Buy a boring car.
10. Buy a decoy house to fool the D.M.V.
11. Set up a private mailbox and remailing service.
12. Master the art of disguise.
13. Work remotely.
14. Encrypt devices when traveling remotely.
15. Hire private investigators to check your work.
Overall Jameson indicates it took about $30k to disappear.
If you are thinking $30k is a bargain, be aware this cost him in both time and ongoing inconvenience. Also if you have a family in the mix you can likely write it off completely.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Sunday April 07 2019, @04:25PM (5 children)
How much is too much? If you have professional mercenary types after you, any risk is too much. Maintaining a home in any one place is pretty much out of the question, no matter how you try to isolate yourself from the spouse and kids.
I like your Gypsy idea. There is a problem in it though. Unless you are part of the Gypsy culture, and your kids are brought up in the culture, the kids remain a huge vulnerability. Your kids are social creatures, after all. They need friends, they need to confide in friends, and to get feedback from friends. They need to give and receive, they need to be part of society. Depending on each child, their needs may vary wildly. Early in life, that is only a modest concern. Teen years? Those concerns grow, probably by several orders of magnitude. By the time those kids are seeking boy/girlfriends, you are indescribably vulnerable.
A person with a family can never disappear so well as a single person who has abandoned all family ties.
The one thing that no one has addressed in this thread, yet, is surveillance. Facial recognition, gait recognition, voice analysis, and any other tools available to your opponents will have to be defeated. The UK or China would be tough to disappear into. The US would be less difficult. South American and some Asian and Pacific countries would be far less difficult.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 07 2019, @04:40PM
I'll watcha watcha what: The ultimate fuel for the bathroom is in my panties.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 07 2019, @05:04PM (1 child)
Why let kids control the parents' lives? If the parents want to live a nomadic life, the kids will have to follow. They can make friends anywhere. Once they're 18 they can do their own thing.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday April 07 2019, @06:28PM
You kinda missed the point: each of the child's friends is a vulnerability. Every bit of data, or intel, that those friends possess is a vulnerability to the family.
(Score: 2) by ilPapa on Monday April 08 2019, @05:58AM (1 child)
Runaway, brother, why the fuck do you have professional mercenary types after you?
Jesus man, what did you do?
You are still welcome on my lawn.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday April 08 2019, @01:37PM
I matters little what I have done - it only matters what THEY plan to do, and how I deal with them. When the shit hits the fan, you survive, or you don't. The whole idea of just disappearing, is to survive, amirite?