And I asked our solicitor, but sadly, we don't seem to have the equivalent of an LLC (I have a number of companies and trusts which own our houses and vehicles, but the law here says the company director's personal address is required). I am sure something can be worked out, and I will keep at it until I work it out. But if you have any Aussie-centric advice, I am all ears! er... eyes! :)

However, privacy with the phone and email stuff is simple, since that is what I do for others. I have a lot of clients with phone numbers in different parts of the country (or even untraceable ones in their own city) since I am the ISP/Telco who creates them. And I even have a few US clients who take advantage of that as well.

In fact after reading HTBI I am considering making the privacy aspect a feature of our business (see address below) as a different slant on the "Get Your Life Back" theme.

Cheerio from tropical North Queensland

Lance

Submitted Link #1: http://fairgocom.net.au...

... Have you checked to see if a NM LLC can serve as the director and/or owner of an Australian corporation or trust? (This appears to be the case in Sweden and Belgium.)

Hi Jack,

I was a bit disturbed by your recent blog posting regarding your entry into Canada. I know some of this has been beaten to death many times on your website, but I’d like to bring it up again, with a twist.

First. Two laptops. Bad idea.

Second, I think that all computer hard drives should be encrypted, whether or not they contain any sensitive data. There are many utilities out there to do this, but TrueCrypt is the free-est way to do it. You can have a pre-boot authentication password so that the operating system won’t boot until the password is entered. This is mainly to keep unauthorized eyes away from your data.

Third, there are several laptop vendors out there that provide easy-to-swap internal hard disks, but Lenovo (formerly IBM) is the one I prefer (I know you used to be a fan of ThinkPads, Jack. They are still pretty much the same as they were when they were under IBM’s wing). With my keychain Phillips screwdriver and a spare hard disk pre-mounted into a Lenovo hard disk cage ($10 on eBay), I can swap my hard disk out in under a minute.

Fourth, when traveling, keep a “clean” operating system installation on your “traveling” hard disk. If customs asks you to boot up your computer, give them the password. They will snoop, but won’t find much. You need to make sure you use the operating system a bit (maybe browse some generic websites) right before your trip, so that the timestamps on the files will be up to date.

Fifth, I just installed a pretty nice stereo system in one of my cars with my brother-in-law, and we became VERY familiar with how to tear apart the dash and door panels in a VERY short period of time. I noticed that there are many large cavities within many of the dash/door components that could easily fit a spare hard disk and/or flash drive. These areas could be used to store the “alternate” encrypted operating system hard disk that you install into your laptop when you arrive at your destination. Of course, if customs rips apart your car, you will need to come up with a pretty good explanation as to the reason a storage device is hidden within it.

Sixth, if step five is too risky for you, there are alternate methods to utilize. You could use a hollow nickel with a concealed Micro-SDHC flash card. You could try to snail-mail your hard disk or flash drive to your destination in advance (not my cup of tea). Or, you could download your files to your computer from a remote server once you reach your destination, then wipe your hard disk clean or reimage it before you return to the States.

The fact of the matter is that even a “seasoned” white male is no longer safe when passing through customs. Customs agents have major chips on their shoulders, and would love nothing more than to catch the next terrorist and get their 15 minutes of fame on the local news. It really is a modern day witch hunt, especially after the recent events on Christmas day.

On the bright side, Jack, I honestly don’t believe they imaged your hard disks. Performing a hard disk sector-by-sector copy definitely takes longer than 55 minutes.

Here is my professional recommendation. When traveling across International lines, carry one clean laptop with you, with a hollow nickel on your person concealing a flash card with your data stored in an innocuously named TrueCrypt volume. If that is too risky for you, keep the files you require for your trip in password protected .zip files stored on your web-based email server (Yahoo, Gmail, etc) and download the files once you reach your destination. If necessary, email any altered files back to yourself and/or securely delete any untouched files and wipe your temp files clean with CCLeaner (freeware) before returning home.

Or, like you said, you could just leave the laptop at home…

I appreciate the use to technology to catch a criminal, but it also let's the public know EXACTLY how free flowing information is these days!

Submitted Link #1: http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/plugged-in/warc...

I have access to your full order history. I know everything you ever bought with a credit card. And yes, there are a lot of studies done on credit card purchases.

Some years ago, someone wrote a paper claiming he could get the age, gender and race only from the credit card purchase history. It worked very well. Today, with your full purchase information, we can even "guess" your income range, number of defendants and even weight. We have a statistical profile of every customer. We can even calculate the odds you eat at McDonald's today, considering you ate there once every X day. In 98% of the time, this model is very accurate.

One drawback is that it requires a lot of information. That is why it takes a few years and then, we are fully able to track you. In many cases, we compare the profile calculated from your purchase history to who you really are (and you thought they asked your income for credit validation) to further improve our models, and track fraud, most of all. It's so sophisticated that if you order products a person in your group never ordered, your card will get automatically locked.

Every time you use your credit card, you leave tracks. And none of it is private. Any police officer can get every purchase you ever made - and it can be used against you. There are many, many cases where credit card purchase history were used to prove DUI (you took a large tab at a bar) indirectly.

Source below

Submitted Link #1: http://www.reddit.com/comments/al3tl/iama_fraud_pr...

Most debit accounts are tied to your checking or savings and will automatically pull money from one of those accounts if the debit account is overdrawn. The manager of our credit union created a savings account (for the debit card) that was not linked to our other accounts in the system. We can transfer money to and from the account but it will not pull from the other accounts if overdrawn. We just have to ensure we stay on top of the amount in the account to ensure we don't overdraw it. We have no other credit cards and use this Visa card for all online and store purchases and have never had a problem. Hope this helps.

I paid cash, but they told me that even if I'd had a credit card, they would still have needed to keep a copy of my ID for the audit. I went along with it because I was exhausted and ill, but it made me very uncomfortable.

I will need to travel several times in the near future, and I would like some advice.

1) My credit cards (which I never use) are under my old name, and do not match my current ID. I am reluctant to update and use my credit cards since I assume the credit bureaus and/or credit card companies will sell my new name and current address to anyone who wants it. Does that sound like a reasonable assumption?

2) Has anyone successfully used a bank debit card with a VISA logo for buying plane tickets, renting cars and hotels, etc.? I am thinking about opening a bank account specifically for this purpose. That way, if the card is compromised, it will only put at risk however much money I have in that account, leaving my regular account safe. Good idea? Silly idea?

3) Has anyone used prepaid cards to rent hotels or cars, etc.? I know that you can get them with your name on them, but you have to fill out a lot of personal info. How would the privacy risk of these cards compare to updating my info on my regular credit cards and thus, the credit bureaus?

4) Are most hotels nowadays insisting on keeping a copy of ID, or is this a Travelodge quirk? I don't mind showing my ID, but having them keep it for years concerns me due to the risk of it being stolen.

5) Any suggestions on finding the most privacy friendly hotels? Do most of you call in advance to ask about their requirements and procedures?

6) If I do need to start using a real credit card, can anyone suggest a privacy friendly one? Ones to avoid?

BTW, my main privacy concern is to keep my personal info from being sold/and or distributed, especially over the internet on those people search websites, etc. I am also somewhat concerned about preventing identity theft.

Thanks for the advice!

... I travel frequently and stay at upscale hotels. I have never had anyone copy my ID. I have ocassionally traveled used a credit card with an alternate name, but have shown a passport with my true name. No questions asked (so far). I suggest you avoid TraveLodge in the future.

For some reason unknown to me I've been put on some "list" which prevents me from checking in online or even at a kiosk at the airport. I always have to talk to a live agent so they can "clear my name" whatever that means. I've never had any problem whatsoever getting on a plane but it's an additional hassle having to wait in line to talk to an agent and as far as I can tell it's basically impossible to get off this "list" once you are on it.

My DL is from a different state with a different ghost address than I used to buy the ticket so the address information conflicts (not a problem when using a passport for ID)

I watched closely when I checked in to see what the agent typed in. My DOB was typed in several times but DOB is on my passport. My address was never typed in. Some number I didn't recognize was typed in which I thought may have been the DL# but it wasn't. On my return flight, there was a tall partition obstructing my view so I couldn't see what was typed in.

Going forward I will obviously use my passport when flying but have I done anything to compromise my privacy with this blunder?

TSA special agents served subpoenas to travel bloggers Steve Frischling and Chris Elliott, demanding that they reveal who leaked the security directive to them. The government says the directive was not supposed to be disclosed to the public.

Frischling said he met with two TSA special agents Tuesday night at his Connecticut home for about three hours and again on Wednesday morning when he

was forced to hand over his lap top computer.

Frischling said the agents threatened to interfere with his contract to write a blog for KLM Royal Dutch Airlines if he didn't cooperate and provide the name of the person who leaked the memo.

"It literally showed up in my box," Frischling told The Associated Press. "I do not know who it came from." He said he provided the agents a signed statement to that effect.

Submitted Link #1: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091231/ap_on_go_ca_st...

---Follow Mr.Luna's advice:Rent do not own if you value privacy.

---When you own anything worth insuring,then society has to know who you are.Why serve the Establishment when you wish to hide from it?

Some background on me: I'm a 34 year old white male, entrepreneur. I have assets, and other people I interact with on a daily basis can probably ascertain this. So I want to protect my assets, and I also have a young family. Many readers here have mentioned the increasing "police state" in U.S., decreasing privacy. I feel this in my everyday life. Although I pay the brunt of taxes in my society, I feel that no one is really looking out for my own protection at the end of the day: the police, the legal system, or government. Interested in your thoughts. And keep up the great work.

... I am not a fan of handguns but if you think you must have one, don't lie on the form.

However, before you do anything, read my e-book Dirty Tricks for Savvy Chicks. I discuss handguns vs. shotguns for home protection.

Hi Frank,

When maintaining your privacy, it’s important that you try to keep things as simple as possible. Also, have you read “How to Be Invisible” yet? Some of your questions are answered in that book, but here is my feedback:

First, it’s awesome that you are paying cash for your house and are putting it into the name of an LLC. This will prevent people from locating your home address by searching the county records. However, I would highly recommend that you do not use that LLC or even the same company name for any other purpose. The more items or services you have tied to a single entity name, the higher the risk that someone will be able to put the pieces together and find you.

Next, utility companies could care less who owns the property where the service will be located. Basically, anyone can sign up for utilities for any address. I personally believe that starting utilities in the name of a company can potentially draw more attention to you than you’d like. Instead, ask each of the utility companies if you can start service without providing an SSN or submitting to a credit check. Sometimes you can avoid this by simply putting down a deposit (sometimes as low as $50). In that case, you should start the service in ANY non-company name (John Smith, etc). I suggest that you start each utility in a different name (once again, less pieces to tie together). If a utility demands a credit check or SSN, either look for an alternative that does not, or use a nominee (see Jack’s nominee book).

Also, you didn’t specifically mention this in your post, but make sure you have a secure ghost address, preferably very far away from where you live. This is good for a million reasons, but especially for when you register your vehicles into the name of a company and need a location for the DMV to mail the new title and registration renewal documentation. Also, make sure you have an anonymous prepaid cell phone with a far away area code. Also get a K7.net phone number. They are extremely handy!

As for banking, opening a bank account in the name of an LLC will eliminate most (if not all) of your privacy. In addition, banking laws require either a tax ID or SSN of a primary LLC member to open the account. Also, you will most likely have to register the NM LLC in the state where you open the bank account. BSA (Bank Secrecy Act) laws make it next to impossible to have an anonymous bank account that you personally open. You will either need to have a nominee open a bank account for you (see Invisible Money) or use cash, money orders, and prepaid credit/debit cards to pay your utilities. In fact, you should be using these methods to pay for everything from this point forward. There is no point in having an anonymous utility or service, only to pay it with a bank account that can be traced back to you.

In closing, I highly suggest that you read all of Jack’s books (starting with How to Be Invisible, if you haven’t read it already). Each provides valuable information to help you better protect your privacy and personal assets. Invisible Money and Skip College are my personal favorites.

Good luck…