Hiding in plain sight - so are you worried about the new UK surveillance bill?

I will never give anti cyber security advice - if someone wishes to subvert a system or hide from surveillance. They will accomplish this without my help. However there are many that wonder how this may be accomplished.

You often get rhetoric that only guilty people have something to hide - to put this diplomatically, this is uttered by idiots that cannot see beyond their own proboscis. In a society that is increasingly given to surveillance - its not the state looking for the naughty people that worries me, as these intentions have a modicum of integrity. Its when the surveillance may eventually become an unchecked abuse used to regulate the population.

Scaremongering, maybe, concern that some dystopian Orwellian nightmare may become fact. A realistic possibility - even the Mayor of London (Boris Johnson) is declaring that this must be a job for the judiciary not government ministers.

If you wish to hide in plain sight - it is not difficult. Lets assume you have legitimately sourced a computer or tablet that cannot be traced. Ebay, Craigslist from a mate in the pub all work. It does not need to be high tech or top notch specification.

Next slowly develop an alter ego - once you manage to obtain a free email address that cannot be tracked back to you. Then you can build the profile. There is a little chicken and egg here - there are some places where the free WiFi can be obtained by purchasing a meal and asking the staff. The rest you can work out. Once you have the email - next can come the different communications and social media tools.

From this you may slowly build your persona - you are still searching the web, your communications details will be harvested and stored by the telecoms companies. But - if you think about where you use WiFi and stick to your persona it will not be difficult. I explored using passing bus WiFi some time ago - where you could easily be anonymous while using legitimately free communications sources.

There are VPN tools - proxy redirectors and anonymisers. The reality is that with a small initial investment you too could surf in a surveyed world with no connection to who you actually are. As long as you do not mistakenly use your home WiFi or do anything that relates to your actual self. Common sense will prevail, you hide in plain sight and no crime has been committed.

Naturally if you try to use this to commit a crime - I hope they catch you and rain all forms of hell upon you.

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