Reading time: 3 – 5 minutes

Everyone does it.  You are traveling somewhere, or you just moved into a new area, or you are waiting at the coffee shop for your car to be fixed and you come across an unencrypted wireless network. Lots of businesses set up hotspots and maintain them for the very purpose of inviting people to use the internet while they are in the area.  Secure WiFi connections are not the biggest concern in their life.  Some people just forget to password protect their wireless router.  You need to satisfy an incredible urge to check to  see if you sold that last textbook so you go ahead and log onto it…just for a minute.

In most cases it may have been a little bit exciting to flirt with an unknown signal, your heart may have pounded just a little bit faster for a moment.  But your unsafe and unsecure wifi connection was otherwise very mundane and you didn’t do anything very adventuresome while furtively exchanging information.  It was quick, satisfying, and this time there were no lasting negative effects.

Risk of Not Using  a Secure Wifi Connection

You may already be aware of the need to safely surf the from a public wireless network.  There are significant risks involved if you don’t. Whoever has access to that network can gain access to your computer and any of the information that you send over the network. Another person with access to that network might be able to route your traffic through their computer and then through the network, called a man in the middle attack.  It is unsophisticated and easy to do, therefore it is very likely to happen.  Things like logging into email, online banking and anything else that might require you to use a password are the most risky things to try on an unencrypted wifi connection. The Google maps vehicles have also been known to gather information about users of wifi hotspots as they pass through them, although I’m sure they already had most of that information anyways.

On some occasions, this kind of network infidelity can lead to a minor irritation of captured personal information which fills the transactional databases of the hotspot host in this surveillance society, and in some cases can lead to a serious loss of data security, virus, or identity theft.

How to Setup A Secure Wireless Connection

So what can you do to protect yourself when casually connecting to inviting wifi hotspots? Set up a secure wifi connection to you own home router or your own secure server through an SSH tunnel. This shield will protect you while using any public wifi connection and keep your surfing safe and secure.

To set up this capability, you might want to have a computer friendly amigo do it for you. You can also look around for a good step by step tutorial or even a book or two on how to do that.

Conclusion

Don’t give up a faithful relationship with your secure internet connection to satisfy a nagging urge while you are not at home. Practice safe surfing habits by using an SSH tunnel to connect to the internet when you are using a wifi hotspot, hotel network or other internet service connection open to the public.  This will help you with protecting your IP address, your anonymous web surfing or to transfer big files securely from public places.  You can create a comprehensive privacy strategy using the book How To Vanish.

RELATED POSTS:

1. Cryptographic Protocols – How To Protect Your Wireless Network
2. Safely Surf The Internet From A Public Wireless Network
3. Net Encryption: A Giant Leap For Google

Reading time: 4 – 6 minutes

State of Colorado jobs are drying up as the heat of legislative pressure beats down on them, causing Colorado based streams of income to evaporate before they ever reach the sea. Meanwhile, the mighty river of income known as Amazon.com meanders on, passing nowhere near state of Colorado jobs.  Navigating Colorado law and the profitability of an Amazon.com affiliate account requires learning how to use the tools and master the  techniques of a mariner to find the safest harbor to earn your income.

Laws Effecting State Of Colorado Jobs

Colorado recently passed a law which upset the big boys over at Amazon.com and prompted Amazon to stop using Colorado based affiliates. The law created strong incentives for internet based companies to keep track of sales tax on products sold by Colorado based affiliates. Some observers have noted that the law required retailers such as Amazon to report who bought what products to the government. The requirement to report a list of books purchased should be a red flag to anyone, privacy minded or not. Such a requirement would make anyone who buys the Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder, The Flying Saucers Are Real, How To Vanish, and The Joy of Vegan Baking, a potential target for political persecution anywhere that a neo-con taxman is on the prowl. Rather than deal with the implications of the new law, Amazon made a business decision to stop using affiliates based in Colorado. That means that about 4,200 people who were earning income from their Amazon affiliate program were suddenly cut off from that income because of their physical location.

Vanish From Unfavorable Jurisdictions

Large corporations and governments both have a lot of economic power. Sometimes their powers conflict, causing pain to those who don’t comply with the requirements of one or both of them.   Geographic requirements are no longer as imposing as they once were.  People can easily become a resident of another state, or even become a resident of another country very easily. Virtual commuting, electronic filing, and the ability to work completely in the cloud have changed the ability of individuals to travel wherever they want to earn their income. Now you can operate your business from the location of your choice, taking advantage of the tax benefits and other benefits this provides to your personal, business and family privacy. Not having to be in any particular physical location makes it hard to exert unjust power over you. One of the great advantages might even be avoiding having your business shut down because of political constraints on geography.

Choose The Right State To Incorporate

Corporations have been taking advantage of the ability to select their geographic location for years. Most people are aware that Delaware or Nevada are common places to be incorporated. The reason being that the laws of those states, both tax and otherwise, are very favorable to a business and can reduce costs of doing business dramatically, even if the individual owner has little connection with those states. You can take advantage of relative geographical freedom by choosing the state of the LLC to suit your needs.

Establish Location Independence

Individuals can do the same thing. If you move around a lot you can establish a home base by getting a ghost address in a particular state, opening a bank account there, and doing other things that demonstrate residency. Just because your office is located in Las Vegas Nevada doesn’t mean you have to live there. You might be able to work out of Lake Tahoe Nevada, have your phones forwarded from Las Vegas to Tahoe, have your mail picked up on a regular basis forwarded from your Las Vegas address to your Tahoe address. Lake Tahoe is much better for your health anyways. When you are done visiting Lake Tahoe, and you decide to spend some time fishing in Montana, keep the same Las Vegas address and have everything forwarded to where you are now staying in Montana. Any requirements to do work in Las Vegas can be met by visiting that office as often as the law requires.

This same principle can be exploited by the Colorado based affiliates of Amazon. They can operate out of Kansas as easily as they can operate out of Denver. There is very little which keeps them tied to Colorado and many incentives to leave Colorado.

Conclusion

Don’t be locked down into the potentially harmful requirements of geographic location whenever possible. Set up your business in the right state, establish residency in the right state and avoid having your business shut down due to government or corporate geographic requirements.

RELATED POSTS:

1. The State of The LLC
2. Keep Your Home Address To Yourself
3. LLCs as a Privacy Curtain

Reading time: 3 – 5 minutes

Much like the war on terror or the war on drugs, the US government is engaged in a War on Bank Privacy. Much like other wars of ideology, they cannot win in the long run unless they fight with better ideas, regardless of the conventional battles they fight and “win.”  They can, however, make it very uncomfortable in the short term.

Recent Developments In The War On Bank Privacy

The War on Bank Privacy has been extended recently with the aggressive pursuit by the IRS of holders of undeclared overseas accounts.  This pursuit has prompted the IRS to make plans to open offices in Beijing, Sydney and Panama City.  That is not exactly “internal” now is it.  Attorney William Sharp has also commented recently that “the IRS is going global…the days of bank secrecy are over.”  Although the IRS has long required disclosure of your foreign bank accounts by filing an FBAR, the power of the IRS to discover “tax evaders” has grown and will continue to grow.

The amnesty period for reporting previously undeclared accounts to the IRS, which recently expired, is reported to only have only prompted 2% of total undeclared overseas account holders to voluntarily disclose their assets to the IRS.  This means that those who chose not to “voluntarily disclose” their accounts will be subject to severe monetary fines and possible criminal prosecution.

These strict penalties will also apply to those who open foreign bank accounts and fail to meet the reporting requirements in the future.  The purpose of vanishing is not to evade taxes.  All laws and regulations should be complied with at all times regarding disclosure of foreign assets and income.  You cannot completely vanish from the government without breaking the law or renouncing your citizenship.

Reaction To Bank Privacy Laws

The laws of some other countries have in the past allowed Americans to exercise their right of privacy, even though the US government does not allow people subject to US law to recognize the right to privacy in banking.  This conflict, and the aggressive nature of the IRS in pursuing “tax evaders” in recent months, has prompted some Swiss banks to cease doing business with American citizens.  It is likely that other countries will do the same and succumb to the same pressure from the US.  The questions then become, which idea is better, bank privacy or required disclosure, and how long will it take for the better idea to win out.

Conclusion

The fundamental right of freedom of contract and the right to privacy are in direct opposition to the policies of the War on Bank Privacy.  Although some countries around the world recognize these rights, the might of the US has forced them, and will continue to force others, to refuse to defend that right.  Although the better idea will eventually prevail, it may take time and effort and the help of privacy attorneys to overcome the obstacles that stand in the way.  Understand the threats of US law and the remaining bank privacy havens around the world in this bank privacy report.  Part of the war on bank privacy is the ever increasing efforts to collect taxes from people who are not domiciled in one of the tax free states.

RELATED POSTS:

1. Bank Privacy Part I
2. Bank Privacy Part Deux
3. Are Subscribers To This Website At Risk Of Reverse Email Lookup?

Reading time: 4 – 6 minutes

One of the most extreme acts that can be taken by an individual in attempt to secure more privacy is to renounce their citizenship of the United States and become one of a growing number of expatriates. Although the reasons for expatriation differ, hundreds choose to take this drastic step every year. I will provide you with a brief outline of what the law requires to recognize you as an expatriate. Failure to meet the three part test may mean that you will still be subject to US law as a US citizen, even if you do not intend to be.  There may be significant saving in taxes if you can find the tax free states to expatriate to.

US law recognizes the right of any person to relinquish their citizenship.  There is a general principle held  almost universally by all nations and that is that “statelessness” is undesirable. Therefore, before you can expatriate, you will need to obtain citizenship of another country. In addition, there are three steps that a person must take in order to renounce US citizenship. A person must 1) take a statutorily enumerated act of expatriation, 2) Do so “voluntarily,” and 3) Act with the specific intent of relinquishing their nationality.

Act of Expatriation

Some of the acts of expatriation include obtaining naturalization in or taking an oath of allegiance to a foreign state, formally renouncing your citizenship before a diplomatic or consular officer in a foreign state, or fighting in the army of a nation engaged in hostilities against the US.

I hope that I don’t have to point out that I do not recommend fighting in the army of a hostile nation. That has the lowest life expectancy of any of the options. Simply obtaining naturalization or taking an oath of allegiance is also a weak option because that in and of itself is done often throughout the world without relinquishing citizenship. There are many who maintain what is commonly known as dual citizenship therefore they are not considered expatriates. Therefore the best option is to formally declare that you renounce your citizenship before a diplomatic or consular officer.

Voluntariness

Whether you acted voluntarily to renounce your citizenship, or to fight in a hostile army, is presumed. You can of course present evidence that you did not act voluntarily, ie: that you were forced to fight for the Taliban or else be forced to eat nothing but McDonald’s for 30 days straight. Since the presumption is in favor of the expatriate, there should be no problem for those wishing to renounce.

Specific Intent To Relinquish US Nationality

A formal declaration of renunciation tends to lead to the inference of an intent to relinquish. Therefore the formal declaration kills two birds with one stone. This is not all that is required, however. Other evidence can be used to establish, by inference, that there was no intention to relinquish, even though an otherwise valid formal declaration was given. Things like returning to the United States soon after your declaration could lead to an inference that you did not have the specific intent to renounce. The person who wishes to expatriate has the burden to prove the act of expatriation and that they had the specific intent to relinquish US nationality.

Conclusion

Expatriation is an extreme measure that may not even produce the desired results. You may also still be subject to unwanted tax consequences many years after expatriation. You will also not have the right to enter the US. It may, however, be just what you are looking for if all of the other privacy protection methods in How To Vanish the book do not satisfy you.  You should consult with an attorney to discuss the option of expatriating to make sure that you do it correctly.

What Privacy Issues Concern You?

I write articles based mostly on what I am thinking about and what I think other people would be interested in learning.  I have also been spending some time putting these ideas down in a very detailed and organized way in a book so that I can present it as good resource for everyone. I have also been asked to write about some topics that answer some of the questions of readers for other websites.  When those are published I will let you know, but I want to make sure that I am addressing all of the issues that you, the readers, are concerned about.   Leave comments and emails about what privacy concerns you have and I will do my best to respond to your concerns.

LEGAL DISCLAIMER: This is not intended to be legal advice, only a general overview of what is required by US law to expatriate. Individuals should consult with an attorney to determine applicable law in their unique situation.

RELATED POSTS:

1. War On Bank Privacy: The US Extends Its Influence
2. Comedy To Die For: The Right To Be Unfunny

Reading time: 4 – 6 minutes

FORGED TRAVEL DOCUMENTS

Most people first heard about fraudulent identity documents in high school when some of their friends would try to buy cigarettes or beer while being underage with forged identities.  The black market for forged identification documents has been around as long as authentic documents.

Forged identity documents have existed since the inception of the insidious practice of impeding the unalienable right to freedom of movement.  With powerful personal computers, printing capabilities, etc. the cat and mouse game of document-fraud has escalated tremendously.

A stated goal of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) is to decrease the efficacy of forged travel documents.  Immigration officials will have to scrutinize a smaller number of travel documents which will be more difficult to alter, counterfeit or obtain through fraud.

There are some physical features such as holograms, ultraviolet patterns, etc. with the more advanced travel documents.  But the significant security features in passports and visas come from the linked databases.  For a completely counterfeit United States passport the efficacy has been nearly completely eliminated for entrance into the United States although it may still be useful for travel abroad.

Consequently, the ability to Photoshop passports and have them work has been greatly curtailed.  Luxury forgers such as intelligence agencies like the Central Intelligence Agency can still accomplish this but obtaining those documents will likely be extremely expensive.

FEDERAL FRAUDULENT IDENTIFICATION CASES

To obtain a United States passport a new applicant will generally submit a birth certificate to prove evidence of United States citizenship and a valid drivers license.  Relative to a United States passport both of these documents are relatively easy to forge.

For example, luxury alien smugglers with relationships to corrupt officials may charge around $30,000 for a package containing a genuine United States passport, birth certificate, social security card and driver’s license or a mere $10,000-15,000 for a genuine United States visa tied to the new database.

The ability to obtain a fraudulent license from a department of motor vehicles (DMV) in a more lenient state presents a significant security hole.  Compounding the problem is that an entire illegal industry has arisen to service illegal immigrants in obtaining counterfeit identity documents.  Birth certificates can also be illegally obtained fairly easily.

The Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) special agents find a large majority of their fraudulent passport cases involve an application with a fraudulently obtained yet valid driver’s license and birth certificate.  When these individuals are arrested they often have identification documents for multiple identities from multiple States.

In September 2008 Jose del Castillo, an immigration attorney, who had been indicted on 23 counts of falsely filing immigration forms pled guilty to one count of federal document fraud.  He was sentenced to one year in federal prison, fined $15,000 and two years of supervised release.

UNITED STATES VISA WAIVER PROGRAM

Citizens of 35 countries can enter and remain in the United States for up to 90 days without a visa.  The countries include European Union member states, Australia, Japan and others.  Because these passports are usually easier to either photoshop or obtain a genuine passport from a corrupt government official therefore these passports are at risk of being stolen and carry a premium on the black market.

VALUE OF LEGITIMATE IDENTIFICATION DOCUMENTS

Many individuals, particularly Americans, are unaware that their passport is worth thousands of dollars on the black market.  This can make a group of tourists an especially lucrative target for Third World thieves.

Yet some United States citizens are aware and sell their passports.  We do not recommend selling your passport and the reasons should be self evident.

CONCLUSION

Forged identities and fraudulent travel documents have been around for a long time.  While there are increased efforts by governments to increase the security of their borders and travel documents there will always be security holes.  The WHTI will assist in closing some of them regarding the use of fraudulent driver’s licenses and birth certificates for international travel.

But peddlers of fraudulent identification documents will evolve their efforts to adapt to WHTI and exploit other weaknesses in the framework.  Individuals can and should be aware of the threat criminals pose to them and their personal privacy by getting the book How To Vanish.  Keep your documents safe, never sell them and be aware of how WHTI affects you.

RELATED POSTS:

1. How WHTI Affects You
2. Identification And Credit Cards
3. Store Your Passwords In Encrypted Software

Reading time: 4 – 6 minutes

FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT TO FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT

The right to travel is a long-standing tradition in Anglo-Saxon law.  At Runnymeade on 15 June 1215 King John agreed to the “Articles of the Barons” and a formal document to record the agreement was created by the royal chancery on 15 July: this was the original Magna Carta.

The Magna Carta is the foundation for many modern day constitutions and enumerates many of the protections found therein including the Great Writ of Habeas Corpus. The right to travel was so important it was distincly set apart in clause 42:

It shall be lawful to any person, for the future, to go out of our kingdom, and to return, safely and securely, by land or by water, saving his allegiance to us, unless it be in time of war, for some short space, for the common good of the kingdom: excepting prisoners and outlaws, according to the laws of the land, and of the people of the nation at war against us, and Merchants who shall be treated as it is said above.

The United States Supreme Court has long held that freedom of movement within the States is a fundamental right while travel outside the country does not contain the same protections.

WESTERN HEMISPHERE TRAVEL INITIATIVE

The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) is a particularly annoying program.  Remember being able to travel via air into the United States and not need a passport?

In January 2007 the air portion of the initiative went into effect requiring all international travelers to use passports to enter the United States.  The land and sea portion went into effect 1 June 2009.

Prior to WHTI American travelers to Mexico, Canada and several Caribbean countries could return to the United States with only a driver’s license and birth certificate.  The land and sea requirements of WHTI will differ from the air.  Valid documents will include passports, United States passport cards, an enhanced driver’s license or ‘trusted’ traveler identification cards such as Sentri or Nexus.

UNITED STATES PASSPORT CARDS

Production of United States passport cards began on 14 July 2008, over 1,000,000 have been issued, applications are usually processed in 4-6 weeks, cost between $20-$45 and the passport cards are valid for 10 years.

If you are a United States citizen with the requisite legal documents then we recommend you apply for and obtain a United States passport card.  We also recommend you use this as your primary identity document for activities such as opening a bank account, purchasing prescription drugs when you have a valid prescription, etc.

Merchants sometimes ask for ID when using a credit card although this usually is in breach of the merchant rules with either Visa or Mastercard.  Generally, you are not required to provide it and they must still complete the purchase.

A few reasons to use the passport card as your primary identity document is because it (1) does not contain much personal information, (2) does not contain an address and (3) is quickly and easily recognized.

PASSPORT CARD APPLICATION

The United States Department of State has hired many new examiners because of the flood of passport card applications.  These examiners are evaluated based on the amount of applications they process instead of the fraudulent applications they identify.  Consequently, examiners issue many genuine passports that probably should not have been issued.  It is important to be aware of fraudulent identity documents and how to protect yourself from the criminals that deal in that sphere.

CONCLUSION

The WHTI will impose additional restrictions on the fundamental right to travel and decrease your ability to travel anonymously.  The new United States passport card may be more convenient and can help protect your privacy.   You can learn how to better implement a complete strategy for protecting your privacy by getting the book How To Vanish.

RELATED POSTS:

1. Fraudulent Identification Documents
2. Identification And Credit Cards
3. How Do Drug Laws Affect Privacy?