How to disappear– Inside the world of extreme-privacy consultants
34 points
4 months ago
| 7 comments
| theatlantic.com
| HN
robertlagrant
4 months ago
[-]
> Then he logs in to Privacy.com, a subscription service that lets him open virtual debit cards under as many different names as he wishes; Harris has 191 cards at this point, each specific to a single vendor but all linked to the same bank account. This isolates risk: If any vendor is breached, whatever information it has about him won’t be exploitable anywhere else.

Any vendor other than privacy.com, one assumes.

reply
CommenterPerson
4 months ago
[-]
He's my hero!

I might have a tip to share with him though. I use a Garmin to navigate, it's pretty decent. I can give up traffic reports for the reduction in surveillance. Regarding new cars with a GPS which cannot be removed: I am on the lookout for a new car now. However, I'll continue to use my 20 year old Toyota until I find a good car without a GPS in it.

reply
neuralRiot
3 months ago
[-]
Most cars until around 2020 have “one-way” GPS, specially in the lower tier since they don’t have road assist or Onstar type services.
reply
fjd
4 months ago
[-]
reply
zonkerdonker
4 months ago
[-]
>Living this way, he acknowledged, incurred a “20 percent cognitive” overhead.

Great article. I wish I had the time, money, and dedication to be able to try some of the techniques, even if only for the principle of it. But like the author says, it really is a Sisyphean effort. There is too much convenience, too much money, too much power in your data.

reply
vincentpants
4 months ago
[-]
Do any of the sites he browses use cloudflare for DDoS protection? Does it use recaptcha to verify that he's human? Do the sites he browses have servers that are housed in a beligerent nation state? Did he use dns servers in a beligerent nation state? I feel like if the answer is yes to any of these might make most of this article moot.
reply
techdmn
4 months ago
[-]
My own list:

* Leave your phone at home.

* Shop locally, not online.

* At locally owned stores, not big box chains that benefit from a lot of customer behavior data.

* Paying cash, to avoid the payment processor reselling your purchase history.

Now if only I could figure out a solution to those traffic cameras with license plate tracking, not to mention facial recognition.

reply
homeonthemtn
4 months ago
[-]
... Why would you put in all of that work, only to have an article written about your self and everything you do in the Atlantic?
reply
robertlagrant
4 months ago
[-]
It's an advertorial:

> Harris is the CEO of HavenX, a firm that provides its clients with extreme privacy and security services

reply
kmoser
3 months ago
[-]
Pretty sure his existing connection to rich, famous, and powerful clients means he never has to resort to advertorials.
reply
IAmBroom
4 months ago
[-]
You answered your question... for a truly sad version of fame-chaser.

More seriously: maybe it's unpaid advertising for whatever his next venture is. You contact the writer; he sends you to a voicemail where you are directed to leave contact info; you get vetted.

reply