The documentary is narrated by a man named Aton Edwards, a self-proclaimed expert in emergency preparedness and self-reliance. The film starts with all of the ways we are being monitored in the electronic age and then goes into a scene with a man (Aton Edwards) in a panic packing up all of his belongings from his home and hitting the road. He had been planning for the day he would have to 'bug out' for the past three months. He talks about changing your appearance and then gets into the process of 'disconnecting' and suggests the average American is tracked by more than 200 databases.
He talks about closing bank accounts, emails, credit cards, etc. He suggests leaving your social network accounts in tact in order to spread 'disinformation' about your actual whereabouts. In the film, he updates his status to say he's going to Alaska, which of course he is not. By doing this, he has gained both an element of privacy because he hasn't revealed where he is headed and thrown off anyone who may be trying to track him by making up the story about going to Alaska.
He then goes on to talk about destroying your computer's hard drive by various methods including boiling, hammers and using magnets. He also talks about the importance of destroying any books you may own and trophies you have collected as they reveal the places you've been and may return to again. And don't throw this stuff in the trash, which is a good point as in most jurisdictions, your trash is legally available to anyone when it is left out by the street or placed in a dumpster.
He then gets into how your cellphone gives away a plethora of information about you (See the recent post about cellphone monitoring here). He also suggests using your cellphone to disseminate disinformation by leaving it someplace and hoping it gets picked up by someone (after you have cleared out all of your contacts). Anyone tracking the geolocation of the phone would be tracking a random stranger who picked up the phone and was carrying it with them.
He then gets into all of the ways your car can be tracked, such as toll road scanning, interstate cameras, the GPS NAV system in your car (including emergency services like OnStar where the microphone in your car can be turned on without you knowing allowing your conversation to be overheard). He also talks about how RFID chips are now being imbedded in some tires.
Some suggestions in the movie are a little over the top, such as not eating the old foods you used to in case someone is watching, for example, all of the 'vegetarian restaurants', because they know you don't eat meat. I can't imagine a scenario where anyone would be casing all of the vegetarian restaurants they think you might visit. But I think his point was to break patterns, which is always a good idea for people looking to maintain their privacy.
He then gets into Biometric Portable Acquisition Computers (BPAC) and how anyone with one of these machines can lift a fingerprint from a glass to determine your identity. I had never heard of a BPAC, and Aton's claims that anyone can buy one are true as they are listed for sale on ebay. These machines measure biometric information such as fingerprints, iris scans and blood vessel mapping. Someone with a BPAC could hack into a national biometric database and determine who you are. His answer to not leaving fingerprints behind is to buy things in disposable containers and presumably keep your trash with you. This bit of privacy is a little over the top too as anyone tracking you probably already knows who you are (why else would they be tracking you). The information Aton offers could come in handy though for people who have refused to cooperate with a law enforcement investigation as I have seen numerous documentaries where they follow potential suspects around in an effort to collect their DNA in an effort to link them to a crime scene. Later in the film Aton reveals that these BPAC machines can actually determine who you are by scanning your face from up to 60 feet away. Presumably you would need to be in the database and the BPAC user would need to have access to the database to know who you are, which I'm sure would be no small feat. But it is interesting to learn that this technology is there and that someone who is 60 feet away from you may be able to use this machine to know exactly who you are.
He then goes into some information on detecting cameras and microphones in your motel room and gets back into DNA again by discussing the importance of sleeping in a sleeping bag and not on the bed because you will shed skin and hair.
He then gets into purchasing a prepaid phone (see the PRS Level 2 buying a prepaid cellphone here). He suggests using it for outbound calls only, but we've already discussed that it is easy to determine who you are by who you are calling. He then talks about how your phone can be turned on remotely allowing anyone with access to listen to your conversations and view your cam without your knowledge. While this film was made in 2010, it is eerily prescient of the future as a recent news article reported that an ex-FBI agent admitted that they do in fact have this capability. That means that hackers have that capability too.
He then goes on to discuss infrared (night vision) cameras and discusses a unique way of preventing the camera from recording your face. He demonstrates a hat equipped with infrared lights of it's own, like this one here, creating a bright light over his head, masking his face. The lights are invisible to the naked eye, but the camera sees them as very bright lights. I have not tried this so I have no idea if this is for real.
He then goes on to suggest that medium sized cities offer the highest level of anonymity versus small towns and large cities. Then he suggests legally changing your name to a common one, which seems like a good idea if you want to increase your privacy. There are millions of Smiths, Johnsons, etc. However, all legal name changes are public information accessible by anyone, though these records are generally kept at the local level and therefore are not easily accessible.
He then discusses getting 'back on the grid', opening a bank account in your new name and getting a new job in a different field to 'hide your tracks'. But doing either of these things would reveal your identity. The bank is going to require your social security number, which doesn't change after you change your name. Your employer will require it too unless you are being paid under the table, which is illegal. Even if you are being paid under the table, your new employer may still want to check references. You're going to have to give him your old name in order to do that or make contact with your references and tell them your new name, again revealing your identity. You are also going to need to file a tax return, which will of course reveal your identity.
He then spends about 15 seconds on what sounds like using proxy servers for obtaining internet anonymity. This is a very complex area and I am planning future posts as I learn more about this subject.
Aton then describes to the viewer RFID chips in groceries and suggests taking your food out of it's original containers and putting it in tupperware. I think this is completely unnecessary, even for the very privacy minded people among us. An RFID in a box of Cheerios won't reveal anyone's identity. An RFID inside a license or passport certainly could.
The film wraps up with some future predictions about surveillance which may or may not come to fruition.
A gaping hole in the film is contact with relatives and old friends. A single phone call to Mom or your children is all it takes to completely blow your cover and all of these efforts to hide will be worthless.
I recommend this film simply for some of the privacy related ideas it contains, but I would take the rest of this as simply entertainment.
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Privacy Action Plan (PAP) for people wanting to disappear and start their life over:
Despite the tips provided in this documentary, there is no way to do this legally.
- Banking and employment regulations are strictly enforced and your information is checked against multiple sources (primarily using your unchangeable permanent social security number)
- Legally changing your name is a publicly available record
- You must file a tax return annually if you earn more than $600
"You're on a mission to regain your privacy" ~ Aton Edwards, Track Me If You Can
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