Reading time: 4 – 6 minutes

With the alarming rise of the crime rate it is no surprise that over 30,000 identities are being stolen every day. These days identity theft is one of the most popular means of making quick money for sneaky crooks. Therefore, it is is essential that you protect your identity. Here are eight very simple privacy tips that will help you protect your identity and hard earned money.

1. The most basic step to prevent identity theft is to regularly monitor your credit card and bank statements. Many thieves begin by making small purchases so it advisable to always keep receipts from your purchases and review the expenses with your statements. Additionally, Credit Karma provides free credit scores and reports.

2. Do not reveal personal information to unreliable sources. If you get a call from someone purporting to be with a well known company inquiring after your personal information and account number then do not reveal it without verifying the legitimacy of the individual asking. Many legitimate companies never follow this procedure to get information. For example, you can ask for a phone number to call back and verify that phone number on the company’s official website.

3. Governments have massively screwed up the whole identity process by issuing social security numbers which make identity theft much easier. Protect your social security number from getting in the hands of such thieves. For this you must never leave home with it unless there is a genuine need.

If you have to give your social security number in hospitals or while filling out a job application then care must be taken that the numbers are stored in safe place. You can ask what their privacy policies are to protect the number. While we do not recommend it; some people have inadvertently or accidentally juxtaposed a digit on the form.

4. Scan the front and back of all debit and credit cards which you then place in an encrypted TrueCrypt volume. You can upload the encrypted volume to a cloud based service like Dropbox so you can access it from anywhere. If your wallet or card(s) get stolen then this will make it easier to freeze or cancel the cards and start repairing the damage.

This is a more in-depth training on how to use the wonderful combination of TrueCrypt and Dropbox.

5. Choosing strong passwords is a very important step that needs to be taken if you want to prevent identity theft. Never choose a password or a security question that is easy to guess.

6. Secure all your devices, like computers or mobile phones, that you use to access your credit or debit cards, bank accounts, brokerage accounts, etc. with strong passwords.

7. You may consider an identity theft insurance policy.

8. Do not leave your mail lying around in a place where anyone can get access to it because it many often expose valuable information regarding your financial accounts. Once you have finished reading them pass them through a paper shredder.

CONCLUSION

These are some very simple and basic safety privacy tips that are very useful when it comes to securing and controlling your privacy. An identity theft can cause your to lose some or all of your fortune and tens or hundreds of hours so it is wise to put some effort into securing your financial accounts by following the above mentioned simple privacy tips.

You can implement these privacy techniques to prevent identity theft. Keep these privacy tips in mind and remember: ALWAYS go above and beyond the norm to protect your personal information by implementing stealth privacy tactics from How To Vanish The Book or The Mini-Guide To Personal Privacy.

RELATED POSTS:

1. 10 Privacy Tips For Protecting Your Identity And Avoiding Identity Theft
2. Protecting Identity Theft Victims: Business Credit Card Holders
3. How To Prevent Identity Theft And What To Do If It Happens

Reading time: 6 – 10 minutes

In the United States citizens are presumed to have unalienable rights which are supposed to be protected by laws and these civil liberties and the right to privacy are rooted in the Declaration of Independence and some are enumerated in the Bill of Rights. Unfortunately, many Americans are not aware of their own civil liberties. You do not want to become so complacent that you let your expectation of privacy be taken from you. We need to be aware of our unalienable rights so that we can stand up for and maintain them.

The privacy laws embody many different legal concepts. For instance, it is against the law to disclose some private information, such as someone’s social security number, without his or her permission. If one party publicizes another party in a false light then the latter party has the right to sue for libel.

On the other hand, public figures and celebrities have less privacy than other people but the law surrounding the media is constantly evolving.

As ordinary citizens, here are some privacy rights for Americans:

Most people around the world are familiar with the First Amendment to the Bill of Rights. It provides protection from established religion and protects our right to speak freely. It specifically protects one profession as they carry out their duty: The Press. We have every right to petition the Government with any problems we might have. What many people do not understand is that this right is given to EVERYBODY because of their humanity so if you speak out against somebody else then they have the right to speak out against you in return.

When the United States of America was first founded soldiers would station themselves in homes without asking owners for permission first. There was also martial law going on during the Civil War. The Third Amendment is supposed to protect homeowners from the military. Even though there is no evidence of blatant martial law going on now there are still some concerns that the Third Amendment will be compromised if we’re not careful. We need to maintain our right to be free from abusive government roommates.

The Fourth Amendment is highly important and has its root clear back to Roman times. This hallmark amendment enumerates protection for people from unreasonable searches and seizures. There have been many cases of police officers and government officials entering into homes without warrants or probable causes. Keep in mind that this amendment doesn’t just apply to your home but to your vehicle, articles, possessions and person as well. A lot of Americans feel that the increased airport security methods are breaking the Fourth Amendment and have taken to suing the TSA for sexual abuse.

FIFTH AMENDMENT

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

SIXTH AMENDMENT

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

These three amendments form the foundation of criminal procedural due process. We all have a fundamental right to be “innocent until proven guilty”, and these amendments (particularly the 5^th) protect us accordingly. It’s in the right of any American who is accused of a crime to have a speedy trial. The Fifth Amendment protects the accused from having to say anything incriminating about him or herself.

HOW TO MAINTAIN, NOT WAIVE, YOUR RIGHTS

If you ever have an encounter with a government agent or law enforcement officer then you will need to be proactive in maintaining your rights. Even talking to them can be a risky proposition. If you do interact with them always be calm and polite but assertive in protecting your rights. Here are three key phrases to raise the shield of protection offered by the Amendments:

Officer, I do not consent to any searches.

Officer, am I being detained or am I free to go.

Officer, I have nothing to say until I talk with an attorney.

OTHER CIVIL LIBERTIES

There are many anti-discrimination laws in the United States. Many of these laws, such as prohibitions on discrimination based on disability, race, religion or creed, are protected by federal law but can also vary from state to state.

Here are some of the civil liberties we need to make sure we always maintain:

• Workplace and labor laws
• Americans with Disabilities Act
• Equal Pay Act of 1963
• Occupational Safety and Health Act
• Freedom of Information Act

CONCLUSION

The foundational legal documents in the United States of America have strong protections of unalienable rights to privacy. You may need to be proactive in asserting these rights so practice those important phrases often. If you feel any of your civil liberties or privacy rights have been violated then you may want to contact an attorney so that you can initiate legal action.

Hopefully, you now have an idea of what privacy rights of Americans are protected by law and how the law can help you to take control of and protect your personal privacy. And remember: ALWAYS go that extra mile to protect your personal information by implementing stealth tactics from sources in our privacy shop like How To Vanish The Book or the Free Privacy Guide.

No related posts.

Reading time: 3 – 5 minutes

In today’s Information age information is everything and it is advisable to secure your private identity from identity thieves. Unfortunately, just shredding or burning your bank statements and other physical effects carrying information about your identity is no longer enough to provide the necessary prevention.

Getting a separate legal identity, such as an LLC, along with bank accounts, a tax ID number and credit cards under that identity is one of the most plausible precautionary privacy techniques that you can adopt so that you are not among those 30,000 unlucky people who fall prey to identity theft by the unscrupulous.

Protecting Privacy In The Digital Age

The first step to protecting privacy in the digital age is getting yourself a legal business identity. We are partial to the New Mexico LLC which asset protection attorneys love. If you are an entrepreneur or the owner of a large asset then you must consider operating under a recognized legal entity such as corporations, LLCs and partnerships.

You will likely wish to seek an attorney’s advice first so that you can determine which legal entity would be the best option for your circumstances and how to best operate it. Getting a legal business entity will award you with extra privacy protection as it will put an additional layer between you and your personal information and liability from the outside world.

The second step is to secure yourself a business credit card. Once you start operating as a business entity you can ask credit card companies to issue a business credit card. The good thing about these business credit cards is that you need to upload business information into the transactional databases instead of personal details. Comparatively less harm is inflicted upon cardholders if business information is compromised as opposed to the damage caused by the leaking of personal data. Another perk is that you get to choose how your business identity appears to others with its name, a DBA (Doing Business As), etc.

Conclusion

Protecting privacy in the digital age is imperative in today’s time when information is everything and an identity theft can lead to serious damage. There are many ways from using cash or a ghost address to using business entities and business credit cards which can increase your identity’s levels of security. One must always remember that an ounce of prevention is better than a pound cure.

A reason why privacy is often associated with anonymity and is a point of contention is because it squares the issue between the boundaries of the State versus the life and freedoms of the individual. But privacy and anonymity can be maintained, in general, without yielding and allowing nefarious individuals to infringe on the rights of independent citizens.

Hopefully, you now have an idea of what privacy techniques you can implement in order to protect your privacy in the digital age. Keep these tips in mind and remember: ALWAYS go that extra mile to protect your personal information by implementing stealth tactics from How To Vanish The Book or The Mini-Guide To Personal Privacy.

RELATED POSTS:

1. Protecting Identity Theft Victims: Business Credit Card Holders
2. 7 Effective Privacy Techniques For Reducing Risk Of Identity Theft
3. 10 Privacy Tips For Protecting Your Identity And Avoiding Identity Theft

Reading time: 3 – 5 minutes

When most people browse the Internet they are not aware of the risks involved. You may not be aware of the kind of information you are leaving behind when you visit certain sites. A lot of snoopers, search engines and cookies can easily pick up on your IP address which can potentially harm your personal privacy.

This is because your Internet privacy is not protected against people who are seeking to misuse all the information lying around in your computer. Learn how to protect Internet privacy and at the same time browse the web safely.

How To Protect Internet Privacy

The best utility for this is proxy servers make that your IP address a complete secret. This can be extremely useful because this important information, your IP address, is not shared with anyone else. You can easily choose the kind of proxy which suits you best because some may not allow you to log into sites like Facebook while others may be painfully slow.

It is very easy to use a proxy server so I recommend you try out Identity Cloaker which many people have found very useful. Typically, your cost can go all the way up to $100 per month depending upon the speed and accuracy with which the server works.

You can even download free software or paid software which will ensure privacy when it comes to browsing the Internet. It can be easily activated while you are using the Internet in order to block your IP address from being utilized by a third party. It is likely that you may initially find it problematic to configure this software especially if you are using an unpaid version. One great free Firefox plugin is Adblock Plus.

Obviously, a paid version is likely to be more useful because hopefully you can access excellent customer support options. In case of any problems you will be guided on how to set up the software so that your Internet protection is enabled. The paid software may be more efficient and work really fast. Unless some expert hacker is out to get the IP address of your system then your information is likely to stay protected and safe.

Make sure that a good anti-virus properly protects your computer. Anti-viruses are important because they keep your computers well protected from Trojans and viruses, which might get hold of your personal information from your computer data.

Conclusion

Today, people use the Internet all the time. Using credit cards online is more than a necessity but you will need to work at protecting youself from identity theft. The privacy of credit cards becomes very important and there are extra steps you will need to take. You should always know that you are always being monitored online and be extra careful of disclosing personal details.

Make sure you have your passwords completed safe with alphanumeric passwords so that hackers will find it difficult to hack your email, accounts or other sensitive information. And where applicable use a good anti-virus program.

These privacy techniques can be implemented in order to prevent identity theft. Keep these privacy tips in mind and remember: ALWAYS go above and beyond the norm to protect your personal information by implementing stealth privacy tactics from 5 Steps To Anonymous Online Speech or The Mini-Guide To Personal Privacy.

RELATED POSTS:

1. Eight Privacy Tips To Prevent Identity Theft
2. Protecting Identity Theft Victims: Business Credit Card Holders
3. 10 Privacy Tips For Protecting Your Identity And Avoiding Identity Theft

Reading time: 4 – 6 minutes

If you want to protect your privacy then you must use effective financial privacy strategies. Financial institutions are supposed to keep their customers’ information private. It’s against the law for them to give out a customer’s personal information without his or her permission. In 1999, the Gramm-Leach Bliley Act (GLBA) was established to provide limited privacy protections against the distribution and sale of your financial information. Despite this Act some banks and credit card companies still can’t be trusted and you have to come up with your own financial privacy strategies.

Take Charge Of Your Financial Privacy Strategies

So, if you can’t even trust banks, who can you trust? The safest thing to do is to take the protection of your financial privacy into your own hands. For instance, if you want to purchase real estate then do so through an LLC. The good thing about being involved with an LLC is that creditors can’t pursue your personal assets to pay off business debts unless they are able to pierce the corporate veil. This can be very helpful if you ever owe money on business credit cards.

Another way to protect your financial privacy is to pay cash whenever you can. If the thought of banks or creditors tracing your every purchase makes you uncomfortable then just switch to cash. Sure, it’s easier to carry around debit or credit cards and swipe them in card machines but paying with cash will provide you with more privacy.

Financial Privacy Through Using BitCoin

And then there is Bitcoin. Bitcoin is a decentralized electronic payment system using peer-to-peer networking and cryptographic protocols. Bitcoins are purely digital units of currency. They can be transferred between two parties for the purchasing and selling of products. The system began in 2009 when creator Satoshi Nakamoto released the original client as open source software.

Why is this digital payment system good for privacy? Well, unlike Paypal, you don’t have to provide a whole lot of private information. While the transactions do show payment amounts and addresses in the public blockchain the identities behind those transactions are not exposed.

Currency exchanges also exist between Bitcoin participants. They can exchange real currencies such as the US dollar and virtual currencies such as the Linden Dollar. The price of 1 BTC goes up and down all the time and is now approximately five US dollars. To get more information, you can read How To Obtain Financial Privacy Through Using BitCoin.

Financial Privacy Strategy – Don’t Forget To Opt Out

Don’t just assume that banks or other financial institutions will protect your privacy. Some of them will actually make your formally “opt out”. They will not give consumers privacy protection unless customers specifically state “no” and opt out. Carefully read over a bank’s privacy policy before you sign anything. Look for the option for opting out.

Credit Report Protection

Only organizations to whom you give permission can look at your credit report. A few examples include your lender, potential employer (after you fill out an application), landlord or landlady and credit card companies.

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act the only people who can get a copy of your credit report are those with a legitimate business need. Your employer or potential employer can only get a copy if you provide written consent.

Take a look at your credit report every month to see who has been viewing it. The three major credit bureaus include Experian, Equifax, and Transunion. If you don’t recognize an organization who requested a copy of any of the reports then contact the bureau to find out who it was. You can also contact the credit bureaus to clean up your report of any errors or omissions.

Conclusion

As long as you keep these tips in mind you should be able to protect your financial privacy using these simple financial privacy strategies. Use financial entitites like LLCs, cash when possible, switch to alternative value transfer systems like BitCoin, opt-out of information sharing agreements from banks and watch your credit report like a hawk.

Hopefully, you now have an idea of different financial privacy strategies and how they can help you to take control of and protect your financial privacy. And remember: ALWAYS go that extra mile to protect your personal information by implementing stealth tactics from sources like the Bank Privacy Report, The Mini-Guide To Financial Privacy or A Lawyer’s Take On BitCoin And Taxes.

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Financial Privacy

Before we start understanding about Bitcoin it is very important to understand the meaning of how to obtain financial privacy. Financial privacy is of utmost importance to a customer’s personal information. This requires ensuring that that it remains private at any cost and is not leaked outside of the financial institution. The leaking of client’s financial information is a heavy cost borne by the customer.

Did you know that personal privacy is a fundamental human right? Yet the laws of many States do little or nothing to protect this vital fundamental human right. Securing one’s financial privacy in practice seems almost impossible on the grounds of the various rules and regulations of States, central banks and policies of corporations. Additionally, many options such as earlier digital currencies, buying silver or gold and barter clubs, etc. have failed to gain significant traction due to the centralization of State power.

How To Obtain Financial Privacy With Bitcoin

Now this is where Bitcoin comes into the scenario. Bitcoin is a form of digital currency but that aims to fix the problem of centralization and in the process helps users control their financial privacy. What happens in centralization is that the power is vested to a central body like a central bank. However, the successful peer-to-peer operation of bitcoins leaves no place for a central authority, or third party, to come into play with regards to the fundamental currency. This is decentralization causes Bitcoin to stand apart from other digital currencies.

Bitcoins are neither issued nor verified by any central authority. Users can generate this form of digital currency using free open-source software. Therefore, anyone and everyone can get a free Bitcoin wallet and quickly and cheaply engage in transactions. Once generated Bitcoins can be transferred safely and securely while maintaining the secrecy of one’s identity. This is one reason why Stratfor failed to protect their customer’s privacy by not accepting BitCoins.

The Way Bitcoin Works

The fact that Bitcoin uses extremely strong encryption protocols minimizes the risk of loss from hackers and identity thieves. It has been argued that this system of digital currency is difficult to use. But new applications are being developed above the Bitcoin protocol that makes it as easy to use as email with modern email clients like Gmail, etc.

Transactions are nearly instantaneous. and micro-transactions involving a very small amount of value is possible and happens everyday You will be pleased to know that this form of digital currency can easily be exchanged with national currency or cash in under an hour via an exchange like CryptoXChange using a service like BitInstant.

The best part is that it is extremely difficult for authoritarian governments to compromise or take control of the Bitcoin protocol or blockchain. While Bitcoin is currently not illegal anywhere, or even legally defined, even if authoritarian States attempted to impede or stop Bitcoin they would likely fail because of the technical virtues of the open-source code. Bitcoin seeks to protect financial privacy unlike no other monetary innovation to date.

But there are some disadvantages. Some control freaks who assume everyone is guilty and can never be proven innocent are overly concerned about the potential for a privacy enhancing tool. They forget that because the only moral reason a State should exist to protect human rights and because financial privacy is a fundamental human right therefore any States should exist to protect the privacy and secrecy of individuals not of vested power interests.

BitCoin is also extremely new and some of the applications are difficult for the average user to handle. When 50 people have fax machines they do not have much value but when 50 million people have fax machines then fax machines have much more value. So likewise is Bitcoin affected by network effects. Transactions are non-reversible; which may be just as much a feature as a bug.

Conclusion

Despite financial privacy being a vital fundamental human right and necessary for a free and open society there are many forces at work attempting to erode these protections and leave individuals bereft of any bulwarks against thieves, extortioners, identity thieves, rogue States, criminal gangs and other nefarious individuals. BitCoin, a free and open-source software, provides an essential utility with a portable and defendable decentralized cryptographically protected currency.

Hopefully, you now have an idea of what of what Bitcoin is and how it can help you to take control of and protect your financial privacy. And remember: ALWAYS go that extra mile to protect your personal information by implementing stealth tactics from sources like How To Vanish The Book, The Mini-Guide To Financial Privacy. or A Lawyer’s Take On BitCoin And Taxes.

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Reading time: 4 – 6 minutes

The number of identity theft cases is growing and it is more important than ever to prevent identity theft using effective privacy tips and stealth privacy techniques. For some people, it’s a nuisance. For others, it’s a nightmare. The Federal Trade Commission describes identity theft as “occurring when somebody uses your personally identifying information, like your credit card number or name, in order to commit fraud without your permission”.

PREVENT IDENTITY THEFT

Here are the privacy tips and steps you need to take in order to prevent identity theft from happening to you:

Review your credit card statements and bank statements regularly. Ideally, you should check all of your accounts once a day. The earlier you catch a problem, the easier it will be to solve it. Carefully look over each statement to see if you can find any strange charges. Sometimes thieves start out small, hoping you won’t notice.

Check your credit reports on a regular basis. One free service that reports your credit score is Credit Karma. There are three credit bureaus in the US: Experian, Equifax, and Transunion. Check all of three of them at least three or four times a year. Look over them carefully to spot any errors.

Secure personal information online. You can use Dropbox and TrueCrypt to store information securely in the cloud. Always log out of your banking accounts. Make sure you have all of the latest anti-virus and spyware removal software. Avoid phishing emails. If you’re not for sure whether an email is really from a legitimate company, enter the address to the company manually in the web browser to check. Never click on a link from a potential phishing email.

Secure personal information offline. Don’t take your social security card with you everywhere you go. You never know when it might get stolen. Keep all of your important documents hidden. If you ever need to get rid of them, put them through the paper shredder.

Make sure other people are keeping your information safe. This includes your bank, credit card companies, landlord or lady, hospital, employer, and anybody else with access to your private information. Find out what kind of security measures they are taking to protect your information and prevent identity theft.

Password-protect your mobile devices such as cell phones and laptops. Make it so that nobody can access ANYTHING without entering your password. A lot of laptops these days even come with fingerprint identification software.

WHAT AN IDENTITY THEFT VICTIM SHOULD DO

Despite your best efforts, you can still never be 100% safe. If you ever do experience identity theft, here are the steps you can take to recover from it:

If you ever notice an unauthorized transaction on any of your financial accounts, call the company to report it. Financial institutions have strong consumer protections in place. They can investigate the transaction and you might be able to get your money back.

If, after reporting the error, you determine that fraud really has occurred, place a fraud alert with Experian, Equifax, or Transunion. They are required to share the fraud alert with the other two bureaus.

File reports with the local police department and the trade commission. You will definitely need to file a report with the police if your wallet or purse has been stolen. Make copies of all of the reports.

Close out any credit cards that might be at risk. At the very least, request a new number and card. If the creditor offers it, file an extended fraud alert. This lasts for seven years. That way, potential creditors in the future will take extra steps to verify your identity. This will make it more difficult for thieves to open accounts in your name.

Depending on the severity of the problem, you might want to request a credit freeze. The rules for this vary from state to state.

As long as you follow all of these privacy tips, you’ll be better protected than most people. Knowing what to do ahead of time will help you reduce the amount of financial loss you will experience should your identity ever be stolen.

These privacy techniques you can implement in order to prevent identity theft are very helpful. Keep these privacy tips in mind and remember: ALWAYS go above and beyond the norm to protect your personal information by implementing stealth privacy tactics from How To Vanish The Book or The Mini-Guide To Personal Privacy.

RELATED POSTS:

1. Eight Privacy Tips To Prevent Identity Theft
2. 7 Effective Privacy Techniques For Reducing Risk Of Identity Theft
3. 10 Privacy Tips For Protecting Your Identity And Avoiding Identity Theft

Reading time: 4 – 7 minutes

Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the world. An estimated 30,000 identities are stolen each day! You don’t have to be one of those 30,000 today. Or tomorrow. You can learn how to protect your identity.

Here are ten privacy tips to help you:

1. Monitor your credit card statements and bank statements at least once a month.

Look carefully over the statement to see if there are any unauthorized purchases. Keep in mind that thieves will sometimes start off making small purchases here and there in order to test the card number out. If you make a lot of small purchases yourself every day, start keeping receipts so you won’t forget anything.

2. Verify sources before providing anybody with personal details.

Phishing has taken a life of its own. It’s everywhere: Facebook, online games, email, phone calls, etc. If anybody contacts you for any reason and claims that they are with a well-known company, don’t trust them. A legitimate company will not contact you and ask you to verify any personal information such as passwords and checking account numbers.

3. Do whatever you can to protect that social security number!

Keep it in safe place in your home. Never take it with you when you go out, unless you know for sure that you’ll be needing it. If you do have to give it out at a hospital or on a job application, make sure that the people in charge of the information will keep it in a safe place.

4. Cancel credit cards and debit cards that you don’t use.

It might lower your credit score by a few points to do this, but you will recover from the hit in no time. On the other hand, it will take you years to recover if the card information is stolen. If you haven’t used a card in over a year and don’t plan on using it again anytime soon, just close it out. Or better yet begin using a business credit card to control your privacy and avoid identity theft.

5. Always choose strong passwords.

Password protect all of your accounts with a combination of numbers and letters. Try to keep the numbers and letters as random as possible. When you are asked for a security question, don’t choose something that would be easy for others to figure out. Sometimes it’s the people closest to the identity theft victims who manage to figure out their passwords.

6. Protect all of your computers and mobile devices with passwords.

Once again, you need to use strong passwords that NOBODY will be able to figure out. If you can afford to do so, buy a laptop with fingerprint software or face recognition technology. Set all of your devices to turn off automatically after an hour or so of non-use.

7. Consider investing in identity theft coverage.

Joining a theft coverage program just might protect you from a lot of frustration and financial loss in the long run. These services monitor any changes to your credit files. Think of how great it would be to have all of your financial accounts monitored 24/7!

8. Keep a watchful eye on your mail.

If you get your mail delivered to your house or apartment, make sure you get it in a timely manner. Don’t wait all day to go outside to pick it up. Don’t just leave it lying somewhere such as your office desk or in your unlocked car. When you’re through with it, put it through a paper shredder. Or better yet use Dropbox and TrueCrypt to safely store your information in the cloud. For a super ninja trick use a secure ghost address.

9. Do everything you can to protect your wallet and/or purse.

Only carry around what you will need for the day. If you only plan on using one card, take it, and maybe a backup card, with you.  Leave the others at home. Safeguard all of your items when you go out. Check your wallet every few minutes to make sure it’s safe in your pocket. If you carry a purse, make sure it’s zipped up securely and that nothing ever falls out.

10. Photocopy all of your debit cards and credit cards.

That way, if you do lose any of them, you will have a copy of the numbers. It will be easy for you to report the card as lost or stolen. Don’t forget to photocopy the backs of the cards, either. Keep these privacy tips in mind and you will protect your identity and financial information. You won’t be one of those 30,000 on ANY day!

Hopefully, you now have an idea of what privacy techniques you can implement in order to prevent identity theft. Keep these tips in mind and remember: ALWAYS go that extra mile to protect your personal information by implementing stealth tactics from How To Vanish The Book or The Mini-Guide To Personal Privacy.

RELATED POSTS:

1. Protecting Identity Theft Victims: Business Credit Card Holders
2. Eight Privacy Tips To Prevent Identity Theft
3. 7 Effective Privacy Techniques For Reducing Risk Of Identity Theft

Reading time: 4 – 6 minutes

Identity theft occurs more often than anybody would like to admit and effective privacy techniques could prevent much of the damage. Everyone has a mentality of “it won’t happen to me”. Unfortunately, it can and it WILL to those who don’t follow precautions.

And when it comes to identity theft, you can never be TOO cautious. Always go that extra mile to protect your personal information. It can even happen at a corporate level if a consumer database is hacked. For this reason, you should only provide your credit card information or social security number to agencies with advanced privacy techniques.

Here are seven privacy techniques and tips on how you can reduce your risk of having your identity stolen:

1. Be extremely cautious when asked to provide your social security or personal identification number. Always ask an organization what type of security system they have in place to protect such information from getting out. You never know who will have access to the data when you are not around.

2. Be wary of emails from “banks” or “companies” asking you to verify your personal information. Hackers will try to make it seem like an email really is from your bank or a company with which you are affiliated. They will try to tell you that there is something wrong with your account and that you need to click on the link in the email to verify some information. NEVER DO THIS!

If you are unsure whether or not the email is legitimate, call the company, or manually enter the company’s website URL in your browser. DO NOT login by clicking on the link in the email.

3. Don’t just carelessly toss important papers into the garbage. Some thieves are so desperate that they will actually go through dumpsters in search of personal data. These items include ATM receipts, credit card offers, bank statements, utility bills, and so forth. To prevent them from being stolen, put them through a paper shredder. Or better yet, use a secure ghost address.

4. When paying with a credit or debit card at a restaurant or store, make sure you can actually see the cashier swipe it in the machine. Although they risk getting in a lot of trouble, some employees try to swipe cards into a fraudulent machine that captures the information. While you’re at it, ask for a receipt. Better avoid merchants like Stratfor who could have protected customer information by accepting BitCoin but did not.

5. Sometimes thieves will try to demand personal information from you via the phone. Phishing scams aren’t just limited to the internet. When you receive ANY type of phone call during which the other person wants you to provide them with private information, do not agree to it. They might even try to sound as if they are professionals of some sort.

The only time you should consider giving private details over the phone is if you made the call yourself, and you know you got the right number.

6. As sad as it sounds, some scammers will try to say they are with charity organizations. They will try to make you feel guilt for not donating. If you’re unsure about whether or not they are a real charity, tell them to contact you another way. Tell them that if they are serious, then they may send you a pamphlet through the mail, and that you will send your donation in the form of a money order.

7. Most identity thefts occur whenever somebody loses their wallet or purse. If you lose any personal information such as your social security card, birth certificate, ID, credit card, debit card, check book, cell phone, etc.., IMMEDIATELY notify the relevant institutions and banks. If any of the information is stolen, notify the police as well.

Hopefully, you now have an idea of what privacy techniques you can implement in order to prevent identity theft. Keep these tips in mind and remember: ALWAYS go that extra mile to protect your personal information by implementing stealth tactics from How To Vanish The Book or The Mini-Guide To Personal Privacy.

RELATED POSTS:

1. 10 Privacy Tips For Protecting Your Identity And Avoiding Identity Theft
2. Protecting Identity Theft Victims: Business Credit Card Holders
3. Eight Privacy Tips To Prevent Identity Theft

Reading time: 4 – 6 minutes

I am not talking about collecting hunting decoys for needy hunters.  I am talking about swapping out a sensitive laptop hard drive with a hard drive that has no sensitive information (a decoy drive) to protect your privacy from snoops.

Privacy Tactics

A great tool for protecting privacy is misdirection. Misdirection can make others believe you have nothing of value, reducing your risk of theft, invasion of privacy, etc. Misdirection can also include using decoys. Privacy predators that find a clever decoy, of no value to you, will be prevented from invading your real privacy and they won’t even know it.

Misdirection does not mean lying or committing fraud. Such tactics actually reduce your privacy because when a lie or fraud is discovered your affairs will be even more closely scrutinized, possibly by law enforcement.

Misdirection Helps People

To illustrate the difference between lawful misdirection and fraud, take the case of a celebrity who would like to go out in public without being recognized. A simple misdirection tactic that they might use would be to wear frumpy clothing, a hood and cheap sunglasses. This obscures many of their features so that, hopefully, they can pick up some toilet paper at the store without being hassled by hundreds of fans.

If that same celebrity were to use a fake ID to carry their disguise even farther, they would potentially be committing a crime.

As an example of effectively using a decoy, I turn to the wisdom of Mel Brooks. The folks in Blazing Saddles used a decoy town to protect their real town from the ravages of savages.  If they were to use a decoy town in some settings, such as when selling the real estate,  they might be committing a massive fraud.

Using A Decoy Drive With A Laptop

Us common folk can apply the principles of legal misdirection and decoys with the data on a laptop. Removing the hard drive of your laptop and replacing it with another hard disk is a great way to use misdirection to protect your data privacy.

There may be a million reasons why you would want to use a decoy drive to prevent access to your main laptop hard drive. You might be crossing a border where you and your data will be searched.   You are not required to provide encryption keys, assuming you have encrypted your data, to enter the US, but other countries like Great Britain will require you to disclose those encryption keys.  Only by removing a sensitive hard drive before traveling to Great Britain will your sensitive data be protected. Maybe you suspect a keylogger has been surreptitiously installed and you want to access an online account without tipping off the snoop.  Or, you are just a fan of personal liberty and you want to try out a cool tactic.

Decoy Drive Steps

First, make sure you are fine with the consequences of swapping out your hard drive. Some warranties might be voided if you do it yourself.

Second, purchase an appropriate hard drive for your needs.

Third, follow the instructions in your user manual to remove the hard drive. Make sure to remove the battery so you don’t get zapped.

Finally, install the new hard drive and you are in full decoy mode.

Advanced Strategy

If some snoop were to discover your decoy drive, would they believe it was the only hard drive you have? If your decoy drive has no activity on it, a snoop might realize that they have not truly uncovered what they were looking for. Upon realizing you have used a decoy, they may be even more interested in finding out WHY, leading them to investigate you even more than they would have.

Just like deer hunters spray their decoys with scent, you need to do more than make your decoy drive look like it is the real thing.  Please do not spray your computer with anything. To make it look like your decoy drive is your main drive, engage in some meaningless activity on your decoy drive regularly.  Save some innocuous documents there, save some harmless family photos, do some meaningless web surfing or play solitaire once in a while.  This will help you sell your decoy as genuine.

Conclusion

Swapping out your sensitive hard drive with a decoy drive at the right times can help protect a lot of your data privacy.  Snoops will have to be very sophisticated to recognize what you have done if you are doing a good job selling your misdirection. To learn more about this and other ways to protect your privacy, check out the book How To Vanish.

RELATED POSTS:

1. Protecting Identity Theft Victims: Business Credit Card Holders
2. Safely Sell Or Donate Your Old Computer
3. My Privacy Library Part II

Reading time: 5 – 8 minutes

Cloud file storage is a great way to get a little bit more privacy.  Separating your sensitive files from your physical location gives you flexibility and security.   But are you exposing yourself to more risks by trusting your data with another company?

For privacy minded people, cloud security can be just as important as convenience.  There are lots of cloud storage options, so which one offers the best cloud security?

There are three contenders that provide very good options for cloud storage which can also provide the cloud security and privacy needed.  Dropbox, which we have discussed before, SpiderOak and Wuala.  Check out how these three services stack up against each other to decide which, if any, you think is best for you.

Dropbox

Dropbox lets you store, sync, access and share selected data online.

Privacy/Security

Dropbox encrypts the content of your files, however, the file names are readable to Dropbox.  Also, they maintain control over your password so there is a possibility that your password, and thus your data, could be compromised by rogue employees, warrantless searches, etc.

For this reason we have urged Dropbox users to encrypt their sensitive files with the open source encryption program Truecrypt before putting them in Dropbox.  Open source software is the most trustworthy way to prevent surreptitious access to your data and get more cloud security.

Accessibility

Dropbox  allows you to access your files, or save new files to your Dropbox folders, from any web accessible computer.  You do not have to be using your own computer to access or save new files.  This can be very handy for travelers working from internet cafes, people working from a different office computer, or if your own computer is lost or damaged.

Ease of Use

Dropbox is the simplest of these three options to setup and use.  The lower default privacy and security settings make it easy to integrate with other services and easier to use in general.  It is also extremely easy to customize the cloud security you want by encrypting your own sensitive files with Truecypt and leaving less sensitive files encrypted by Dropbox.

Price

Dropbox, along with SpiderOak and Wuala, offers 2 GB of free storage space.  That can be enough storage for a few critical documents, like birth certificate, passport, etc. There are ways to increase storage, including paying about $10 per month for 50 GB or $20 per month for 100 GB.

SpiderOak

SpiderOak provides encrypted backup, storage, access and sharing of your files.

Privacy/Security

SpiderOak automatically encrypts all of the files backed up or shared through their service.  The encryption is done on your own computer with the SpiderOak software that you download so SpiderOak’s central servers never have control over your password.  That way, the SpiderOak employees or other snoops cannot read the files you have uploaded to your account, not even the file names.

SpiderOak software is not open source so there is no way to verify the claim that they do not have  surreptitious access and cannot grant surreptitious access to others.  It is still advisable to encrypt sensitive documents separately with Truecrypt before backing them up with SpiderOak.

Accessibility

SpiderOak allows you to access backed up files from anywhere, but you cannot upload new files to your SpiderOak account from a remote computer.  This may be inconvenient for people who might be working from an internet cafe, etc.  This loss in convenience is the price paid for increased cloud security.

Ease of Use

SpiderOak offers more features than Dropbox so it is a bit more complicated to use, although it is still fairly simple. Because of the limitations in accessibility it is harder to integrate with many other applications that you might have.

Price

In addition to the 2 GB of free storage, every 100GB of storage costs $10 per month.  That is about half the price of Dropbox.

Wuala

Wuala is like somewhat of a hybrid between Dropbox and SpiderOak.

Privacy/Security

Wuala encrypts your data automatically before it is uploaded, similar to SpiderOak, although it is based on more open source projects than Dropbox or SpiderOak. It is not completely open source, so the same open source caveat generally applies.  Wuala is, however, based in the EU where there are stronger data protection laws than there are in the US.

Accessibility

Wuala provides a way to access files via the web.  This gives you access to your files from an internet cafe or other places, not just from your own computer.  It still allows you to encrypt and decrypt your data locally, maintaining the high security while still providing the ease of use.

Ease of Use

Wuala is able to support drag and drop file management, much like Dropbox.  This, and other features, make it less complex than SpiderOak, which does not have drag and drop features.

Price

The cost of Wuala is about the same as SpiderOak, which is about half the price of DropBox.

Conclusion

These are at least three good solutions for online backup, file sharing and storage which still offer cloud security.  Each has different features and capabilities that will appeal to different people.  If you want flexibility you can use Dropbox.  If you want automatic strong encryption, you can use SpiderOak.  If you want a bit more of a hybrid, try Wuala.  You can combine any one of these with Truecrypt for maximum privacy and cloud security.

RELATED POSTS:

1. How To Use Dropbox And Truecrypt To Securely Transfer Files Privately
2. Protect Passwords With KeePass
3. Avoid Attorney Malpractice, Use Free Encryption Software

Reading time: 6 – 10 minutes

A lot of people think email encryption is an awesome idea.  But very few of them ever do it.  Emails travel around the internet in plain text. Anybody routing the traffic can easily read the entire content of your emails like a letter carrier can read a post card.  When it is legal to secretly read your emails without a warrant and it is legal to detain you indefinitely without charges, more people than ever might be motivated to start encrypting some of their emails.

I’m sure part of the reason why many people don’t encrypt their emails is because they think it is too complicated, too time consuming, too cumbersome, or requires major computer skills.  A few might even think it is useless, since there are not a lot of people that currently encrypt their email.

If you know more about Gatekeepers and Keymasters than you do about public key and private key cryptography, you are in luck.  Not only is free email encryption very useful, but it is fairly simple, almost seamless, and you don’t need to befriend a bunch of encryption fanatics to use it effectively. Plus, you will not be summoning any giant marshmallow demons when you use it.  Follow these simple steps to set up free email encryption in 15 minutes.

Email Account

To get free email encryption you can use an existing email account, or you can set up a dedicated account to receive your encrypted communications.  A dedicated account is usually unnecessary because your email provider, and warrantless email snoops, will not be able to read any encrypted emails.

The email account that you use must have IMAP or POP forwarding capabilities.  Plenty of email providers, like Gmail or Fastmail, offer this feature in their free accounts.  Yahoo mail only offers forwarding on paid accounts. Before you start, check the settings of your own email to make sure you have IMAP or POP forwarding.  You will use this email address in the setup process.

1. Download Free GnuPG Encryption Software

Both the sender and receiver need to be using the same software in order to properly decrypt the message. GnuPG is one of the leading email encryption programs.  It is like the Microsoft Word of email encryption software, except that it is free.   It is very simple to install and should only take a minute.

Download GnuPG for PC

Download GnuPG for Mac

2. Download Thunderbird from Mozilla

Thunderbird is free email software that will allow you to manage your encrypted messages. It only takes a few moments to set up.  Follow the installation and setup instructions and use your email that has IMAP or POP forwarding in the setup process. This step is also very simple and should only take a minute.

Download Thunderbird for PC

Download Thunderbird for Mac

3. Install Enigmail Plugin

Save the Enigmail file to your computer.  Open Thunderbird and go to the Tools, Add-Ons menu to install Enigmail.

Download Enigmail Plugin for PC or Mac

4. Create Your Encryption Keys

Now that you have the software installed, you are almost ready to start encrypting your email. You will want to close Thunderbird and GnuPG before continuing.  Open Thunderbird up again and  go to the OpenPGP menu and select Key Management.  Then click on Generate and then New Key Pair.

Choose the email address you want to use  and come up with a passphrase to send and receive encrypted email using strong password techniques.  Click on Generate key and your keys will be generated shortly!

5.  Penultimate Free Email Encryption Setup Items

Thunderbird will ask you if you want a revocation certificate, which is a good idea to have in case of a disaster, so click yes on that option.

Check out your key id by going to Key Management under the OpenPGP menu item.  Search for your email address and write down or save the key ID.

6. Publish Your Public Key

You want everyone in the world to know your public key.  Without it, nobody can send you an encrypted email.  You can publish your public key in the public key directory by going to Key Management, highlighting your email, go to the Keyserver menu item and select Upload Public Keys.  You can also publish your public key on your website, email it to all of your friends, or put it anywhere else by going to edit, copy to clipboard and then pasting your public key where you like.

You are completely ready to use free encrypted email now.

Use Free Email Encryption

Now that you have  a new toy, you might want to test it out.    Check out these detailed instructions on how to send an encrypted email.  Compose a message and send it to “adele-en@gnupp.de” with your public key attached.  Send signed and encrypted messages and you will receive a response within a few minutes letting you know whether it worked or not.

Free Email Encryption Prevents Email Scams

Even if you are the only kid on your block with email encryption, it is still a very useful tool. Email scams are big business.  I am sure most of us have seen an email from someone impersonating one of your contacts.  When you sign an email, even if the email itself is not encrypted, the recipient knows you are sending it. The recipient doesn’t need to be using email encryption to prevent email impersonation scams.

Conclusion

Free email encryption is one of the best ways to get a lot more privacy for very little effort.  It will keep warrantless snoops from invading your private life. Massive surveillance of private messages will be much more difficult when private emails are encrypted. It is easier, less cumbersome, and less time consuming than most people probably realize. Check out more ways to protect your privacy in the book How To Vanish.

No related posts.

Reading time: 5 – 8 minutes

Stratfor’s website was hacked by Anonymous, customer details including names, addresses and, according to Reuters over 4,000 credit card numbers were copied and distributed to the public while AnonymousSabu tweeted “Over 90,000 Credit cards from LEA, journalists, intelligence community and whitehats leaked and used for over a million dollars in donations”. Being a former Stratfor subscriber I am extremely annoyed. However, I practiced proper privacy hygiene using a ghost address and a disguised credit card so the potential negative effects are likely minimized.

Nevertheless, I am extremely displeased that Stratfor, by not offering to accept BitCoins, has failed to take proactive steps to allow subscribers to protect their privacy and security. Absolutely ridiculous. These Empire cheer-leading neocons know or should know about protocols like BitCoin which have geopolitical significance. Consequently, I canceled my subscription with this liability of an organization. If they decide to accept BitCoins then perhaps I will reconsider a subscription.

Here at HowToVanish we do not take anyone’s time, attention, privacy or security for granted. Did you know the average victim of identity theft spends thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours cleaning up the mess?

But I doubt Stratfor cares much about that potential cost born by their customers. If they did then they would follow our example. You see, for us privacy is a serious business and why all How To Vanish products are available with payment via BitCoins or cash.

HOW TO GET BITCOINS WITH CASH IN AN HOUR

First, you will need a BitCoin wallet to have the bitcoins sent to. This could be with an exchange like Tradehill (used in this example), an online wallet service like Strongcoin or using the free open-source client available at BitCoin.org.

Second, you will need to find a source willing to exchange BitCoins for your cash and BitInstant seems as good as any, will send the bitcoins to your Tradehill account and only charge 5% which is about the same cost American Express charges merchants. BitInstant accepts cash deposits at Bank of America and Chase branches which you can locate at TrustCash with only a zip code.

Third, now that you have located a nearby branch to use with BitInstant you can fill out the order form. For extra anonymity use a temporary email address from a service like Mailinator.com for the contact email. But I do not recommend this for the Tradehill account because Mailinator emails are available to the public so your account could easily be compromised.

Fourth, wander, meander or waddle down to that bank branch and make the cash deposit. If you are too lazy or want another layer of privacy then have someone else run the errand to deposit the cash at the branch so you can avoid the noisy surveillance cameras. About 30-45 minutes after the cash deposit the bitcoins should be in your wallet.

Fifth, now that you have some bitcoins you should spend them! If you are new to How To Vanish then, of course, I would recommend How To Vanish The Book or one of our three new mini-guides that are about 35 pages on the topics of (1) Financial Privacy, (2) Personal Privacy or (3) Political Privacy.

Sixth, to increase the liquidity of your bitcoins I recommend getting at least one American Express Prepaid Card at no cost. Then you can use your bitcoins to buy Moneypaks which can be used to fund the prepaid card and withdraw up to $200 of cash per week at any ATM.

CONCLUSION

Stratfor has shown an extreme level of disregard for the privacy and security of their subscribers by not accepting bitcoins. But this is merely a symptom of a larger problem: governmental interference in the payment market.

All merchants you deal with using credit or debit cards pose a significant risk to your privacy and open the door to identity theft. You may want to ask them to accept bitcoins.

If they refuse then reconsider the value of their goods or services and whether it is worth the liability of your personal and financial information being deposited in a transactional database to be breached at some unknown date in the future and potentially become a massive headache of identity theft. Plus, in the bitcoin economy there are now hundreds of merchants offerings tens of thousands of goods and services.

Now you know how to get bitcoins with cash in about an hour. So go get at least $20-100 worth of bitcoins sent to your Tradehill account and try buying something like one of our privacy products. Once you see how easy, convenient and low cost in time, money and privacy bitcoins are then you will likely become a big fan and begin exerting economic pressure on your merchants to accept them.

Trust me, in this economy merchants will likely be happy to generate sales in any medium of exchange, especially one like BitCoin where the expenses are a lot lower.

RELATED POSTS:

1. How To Obtain Financial Privacy Through Using BitCoin
2. BitCoin – The Best Financial Privacy Is Here…Probably
3. Is GoldMoney A Gold-Backed Bitcoin?

Reading time: 8 – 13 minutes

Wise men visited the young Jesus, bringing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.  What if He wanted to sell those gifts later on to buy a donkey, feed the poor, clothe the naked, or buy a house?  How would those first Christmas gifts, and subsequent transactions, be treated under US tax law? If you wouldn’t mind getting some gold or silver (or frankincense and myrrh) for Christmas, or if you are giving them, you might want to be aware of the potential taxes involved.

This article is a follow up to some previous articles on the Liberty Dollar case and the discussion about trading gold or silver coins that followed.  Readers have asked me about the implications of the Kahre case, regarding trading legal tender gold and silver coins as opposed to privately minted gold or silver coins.

Jesus, Wise Men and Taxes

The facts set forth in the biblical account of the gifts of the Magi, along with a few facts and assumptions I throw in for good measure, provide a good hypothetical scenario for understanding the legal and tax consequences of trading goods, like gold, frankincense and myrrh, and legal tender gold or silver coins. For a more thorough understanding of the law regarding trading bullion, you might want to consult Pieces of Eight.

The legal and tax consequences of trading gold and silver are important to privacy. Privacy is freedom and gold and silver as money protect people from violations of fundamental human freedoms.

Transfer #1

…and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

Matthew 2:11

Here we have wise men giving very expensive gifts to Jesus.  Let’s look at whether Jesus has any income taxes to pay from receiving these gifts and if there might be a gift tax owed by the wise men.

Income Tax Liability Of Jesus

There are no income taxes owed when you receive a gift. Fortunately, Jesus will not have to pay any income taxes on the gifts he received. However, since these wise men came from “the east” we will assume that they are foreigners.  If any of Jesus’ gifts were worth more than $100,000, He will need to fill out Form 3520, Annual Return to Report Transactions with Foreign Trusts and Receipt of Certain Foreign Gifts. Its a good thing the gift is well documented to defend himself in case the IRS thinks Jesus might have unreported income.

Gift Taxes

The GIVER of a gift must pay a tax if they give someone a gift worth more than $13,000.  There is an “exemption amount” that complicates this concept a bit, but for simplicity we will not address it here.  Any one of the gifts worth more than $13,000 would cause the wise man who gave it, if they were subject to US taxes, to owe gift tax at approximately the same rate as his income tax (excluding any exemption amount issues). Maybe that’s why they didn’t stop by to see Herod on the way out of the jurisdiction.

Basis

It will be important to know what Jesus’ basis in the gifts are if he ever decides to sell them in the future.  The basis is generally the amount the GIVER paid for the item.  Lets assume that the wise men picked up their gifts at a store in Bethlehem right before they gave them to Jesus. Their basis (and subsequently Jesus’ basis) is the market value of the goods at the time they were bought (let’s say $285 for an ounce of each, the approximate spot price of gold 13 years ago, since I don’t have the spot price of frankincense and myrrh handy).

Now let us imagine that Mary and Joseph were pretty good parents and saved these gifts to present to Jesus at His Bar Mitzvah which is, in our hypothetical, this year. The day after his Bar Mitzvah, Jesus contemplates buying all kinds of nice things with the gifts the wise men gave him almost 13 years before.

Transfer #2

The gifts from the wise men are spent.

Capital Gains Tax

To calculate the gain, we take the difference between the fair market value of the item when spent, less the basis (essentially the original price paid).  The price of gold has now risen to over $1,600.   Lets also say that the other gifts have had similar gains.

When you recognize a gain on the exchange of an asset (like gold, frankincense or myrrh) for something else (another good, cash, etc.), a capital gains tax will apply.  For most assets, the capital gains tax is 15% of the gain.  Frankincense and myrrh would be taxed at 15%.

Higher Capital Gains Tax On Gold – 28%

Gold is different.  Gold is specifically identified in the tax code, along with antiques, rugs, stamps, art and other collectibles, at a 28% capital gains tax rate. Jesus’ gain on gold, if exchanged for goods worth $1600, would be $1314 per ounce.  Instead of paying 15% of this gain as a tax ($197 per ounce), He will have to pay capital gains tax at a rate of 28% ($367 per ounce).

This highlights a big reason why gold and silver are not regularly used as money, especially while they are appreciating in value.  Capital gains tax makes gold and silver more expensive to use as money than other things that are less suited for being money, like frankincense and myrrh.  He could get 13% more house if he trades frankincense or myrrh instead of gold.

Legal Tender Value Of Gold Coins

Some gold and silver coins are official US legal tender.  Gold Eagles have a face value of $50, even though the value in Federal Reserve Note Dollars is much more.  This has led some people to believe there might be some tax arbitrage.

One such individual was Robert Kahre, who paid his employees and independent contractors with legal tender gold and silver coins.  He recorded the value of the transactions at the legal tender value on the coins, rather than the Federal Reserve Note value.  In other transactions, such as purchasing a house, he declared the value of the coins at their Federal Reserve Note value.

There are numerous issues raised in the case, but if allowable, these types of transactions would have reduced reporting requirements, income taxes and a lot of other taxes for the participants. Kahre was ultimately convicted of tax evasion.

$1 ≠ $1

The state of the law is that a dollar does not equal a dollar.  Thus we have the result of the Kahre case.  It seems ridiculous to say that a dollar does not equal a dollar, but in order to avoid prosecution, it might be a good idea to record your transactions in legal tender gold and silver at the Federal Reserve Note Dollar value instead of the Gold Eagle Dollar value.

If Jesus traded a Gold Eagle for a fish-and-loaves dinner for 5,000, neither Jesus, nor the caterer should record the expense or income at $50.  They should record the transaction somewhere between the fair market value of the coin or the food. The same is true if you trade a house worth $160,000 in Federal Reserve Notes for 100 ounces of gold with a “legal” tender value of $5,000. I’m sure the property tax assessor will tax you on the Federal Reserve Note Dollar instead of the Gold Eagle Dollar.

Challenge?

Some people may not be satisfied with this rule and may attempt to challenge it.  There are certainly many facts that were not favorable to Mr. Kahre.  For example, he paid individuals with gold and silver at one window, and just a few feet away at another window, bought back those gold and silver coins at fair market value for currency or other notes. A different factual scenario may have legitimate legal arguments to support the position and could lead to a different outcome, although I think it is unlikely.

Conclusion

Jesus would not have been taxed for the gifts he received from the Magi unless he traded them later for gains, at which point the tax on his gains in gold would have been significant.  The Wise Men might have been taxed for giving a gift to Jesus. When dealing with legal tender gold and silver coins, it appears that in order to obey one law (the law as enforced in the Kahre case) one would have to disregard another law (the legal tender value of the coins) and report the Federal Reserve Note Dollar value instead. I can’t think of very many other instances of ridiculous outcomes in the law: a dollar is not the same as a dollar. I still prefer the gold ones.

RELATED POSTS:

1. SAR Report Awareness: No More Transaction Reports
2. Liberty Dollar Trial and Coin Value
3. Liberty Dollar II – Did Prosecutor Anne Tompkins Violate Ethics Rules?

Reading time: 5 – 8 minutes

Your old computer has more sensitive information than the diary of a 13 year old girl. I doubt you would sell or give away that kind of a diary, but it seems wasteful to destroy a computer that could be perfectly good for someone else. So what can you do with an old computer that could still be perfectly useful to someone, without compromising the security of your tax documents, diary entries, embarrassing childhood photos, and other private information?

Recently I donated an old computer, that was still in great condition, to charity. I took some very simple steps that you can use to safely sell or donate your old computer.

Deleting Doesn’t Cut It

Simply deleting a file is not sufficient for you to safely sell or donate your old computer. “Deleted” files actually remain on a computer until they are saved over with other information. They don’t show up on the regular operating system anymore, but those “deleted” files are easily recoverable by some nosy 10 year olds.

Completely Wipe The Hard Drive To Safely Sell Or Donate Your Old Computer

The entire hard drive needs to be wiped out to prevent any old files on the computer from being discoverable by a donee or subsequent owner. This sounds very technical, but it requires very little technical skill to do. If you can install a simple program on your PC, you can wipe your hard drive.

Step 1 – Get Free Software

You first need to download free software that will securely wipe your computer hard drive. I recommend Darik’s Boot and Nuke (DBAN). Save the “DBAN 2.2.6 Beta” file to your computer.

Step 2 – Burn A Disk

You will need to save the file to a CD or DVD. Most computers now have CD or DVD burners. When you open your CD burning program, make sure to select the option to burn an “ISO” image. If you were looking closely, you will notice that the DBAN file you downloaded is a “.iso” file. Burn the disk like normal.

Alternative – You can also save the file on a USB drive if you want.

Step 3 – Boot Computer From The Disk You Burned

Now you need to put the burned disk with the DBAN file into your computer before you boot it up. If you have already booted up, restart the computer with the disk in. If you saved DBAN to a USB drive, plug that in before booting up or on reboot.

Step 3.5 – Configure Computer To Start From Disk Drive

If your computer started up like normal with DBAN in the disk drive, you need to reconfigure your computer to boot up off of the disk drive. You will need to restart your computer once again. Right when your computer is starting up, you will be able to access a menu with some very basic configuration options (the BIOS menu) if you press a button, usually “F2″ or something like that. Be quick because the screen only flashes for a few seconds.

Find the boot up options. Every menu is a little different at this stage, so you may have to search around for it. Once you have found the boot up options, make sure that the computer is looking to the disk drive where DBAN will be to boot up first. If you used a CD, look to the CD drive, if you used a USB, make sure the computer boots from that drive.

Step 4 – Point Of No Return

Make sure you really, really, really want to do this. There is no turning back from the next step. Back up anything you will need later.

Step 5 – Wipe Your Hard Drive

When your computer boots off of DBAN you will see a hideous blue screen and be given some options. You can simply type in “autonuke” then press “Enter” to erase your hard drive. This method is good, but it may miss some important data that can be recovered later. If you want to be very secure about erasing everything, follow this second suggestion.

Once your ugly blue DBAN screen comes up, hit “Enter” to go into interactive mode. Hit the letter “M” and then select “Gutmann Wipe” and press “Enter”. Use the “Space” key to select your hard drive. Press “F10″ to start wiping. This method will wipe your hard drive several times over and won’t leave any data behind.

Autonuke will take approximately one hour to completely wipe your computer. The Gutmann Wipe will take much longer.

Step 6 – Safely Sell or Donate Your Own Computer

You can now sell or donate your computer without having your data fall into the hands of strangers. The wiped computer will need an operating system do that before getting rid of it or let the next owner take care of it themselves.

Conclusion

You don’t have to destroy or throw out your old computers to protect your private data. You can still be generous or earn a little cash by selling or donating your old computer after wiping your sensitive hard drive of all private, personal information. These steps are for a PC.  If you are donating a Mac, check out these other steps to delete your sensitive information.For other tips on protecting your digital privacy, check out the book How To Vanish.

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Some people feel like it is useless to protect privacy.  Privacy pessimists already feel the ubiquitous surveillance of almost every action they take.  They envision a near future when every thought, word and deed are detected recorded and archived for later reference by anyone who wants to know.  The advance of technology makes it seem like privacy is dead.

Privacy Is Dead Because Of Technology?

It is true that technology is advancing to track our every move, often without our knowledge. But technology is also advancing to protect privacy in ways that were not available before.  There are already many tools that we can use to protect our private information and most of them are free and easy. Tor, Truecrypt, and GnuPG are three great examples.

Unfortunately, as Julian Assange  alluded to following the release of “The Spy Files,” much of the technological effort is aimed at invading privacy.  But, if privacy is valuable to people, more and more privacy protecting solutions will become available. If privacy is not valuable, then nobody will read this.

The reality is that privacy protecting technology is usually easier to employ than privacy invading technologies.  For example, it is free and only takes a few seconds to encrypt files or emails.  To break into those emails, you need a significant amount of technical skill, time and money.

Privacy Is Dead Because Of Social Norms?

Many also look to the changing social norms that seem to punish people who don’t want to participate in social network surveillance.  Idiots get paid millions to display their stupidity on TV and on the internet.  Governments and advertisers can now track people like the East German Stasi could only dream. But, even Mark Zuckerburg is publicly noting the dangers of social networking. Plus, the Stasi aren’t forcing anyone to use Facebook.

The Law Is Killing Privacy?

The Patriot Act has made constant, warrantless digital searches legal.  Telecommunications are controlled by strict regulation, preventing communication without government permission.  Your bank accounts are under government surveillance. Death by one thousand cuts of privacy invading regulation is a real problem, but the future is not as bleak as it may appear if we look at the bigger picture.

Americans of Japanese descent have much more privacy now than they did during World War II, even though the law allowing them to be imprisoned based on nothing but their heritage is still valid.  Minorities, while still brutalized by law enforcement, are brutalized much less and enjoy much greater freedom than they did under Jim Crow laws.

Encryption Technology Is A Model For Privacy

The most significant protection from unjust law is the technology that has developed to make the law irrelevant.  The history of strong encryption is a good example of this.  Strong encryption was developed and used by the US military several years ago.  At that time, fearing the power of encryption in the hands of the enemies of the US military, it was illegal to export high level encryption technologies to other countries.  It was treated as a munition.

But, other groups outside the US were able to harness the power of mathematics and develop strong encryption on their own.  Now, strong encryption is so ubiquitous it is available for free to anyone with access to the internet.  The law preventing the export of encryption is as useful as a law preventing people from riding their bike in a swimming pool and was severely relaxed in the US.

Many other technologies are rendering other laws irrelevant.  Torrents, Tor, GnuPG and other solutions allow individuals to communicate privately.   Financial transactions can take place with Bitcoin across international borders with no limits on value, no declarations, and no ability to restrict a transfer.

Keeping Privacy Alive

As with most things in life, 80% of the benefits of privacy can be attained with 20% of the effort.  Focusing on just a few of the most effective privacy tools and techniques will go a long way to protecting a material amount of your personal privacy. Giving up does not do any good.

Conclusion

Privacy is alive. We may not be able to unplug completely from the Matrix, but we can have a material amount of privacy by using a few tools that best fit our situation.  All we need is to carve out some areas where we can keep our private files, communicate anonymously and transact anonymously.  Other information, like our favorite color and our favorite food can be uploaded to the Matrix without much harm done to ourselves.  I have no doubt that in some ways there will be privacy battles that are lost in the future.  But at the same time, I have no doubt that many solutions to protecting the most fundamental aspects of human autonomy will be developed.  There is no putting the genie back in the bottle for many of the privacy protecting tools that have been, or will be developed.  Long live privacy!

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It is no secret that some attorneys will initiate litigation of a weak case hoping that the defendant will settle instead of risking a trial. This is a very calculated move. Understanding the calculation and how privacy can affect the formula in your favor, can help lower the risk and cost of marginal litigation and stop frivolous lawsuits.

Most plaintiff’s attorneys will take a case on contingency. That means that they will not get paid unless the case is a winner, and they will only get paid a percentage of the judgment. If a law firm is going to stay in business, they need to make sure they don’t spend their time pursuing claims that will not recover as much as their costs to litigate.

Most successful attorneys will evaluate a case using the following formula:

Liability x Damages x Recovery > Cost.

As long as the left hand side of the equation is greater than the estimated cost of litigation, there might be some attorney willing to take the case. To stop frivolous lawsuits, the cost of the frivolous lawsuit needs to be greater than the other side of the equation.

Cost

Cost will be different depending on each firm. The higher the left side is relative to the cost, the more likely it is that there will be a lawsuit. Many things could affect the cost of a case, from the size of the law firm taking the case to the difficulty of the subject matter being litigated. Since you really have no control over the “Cost” side of the equation, the best way to stop frivolous lawsuits is to focus on reducing the “Liability x Damages x Recovery” side.

Liability

“Liability” represents how easy it is to show that someone is at fault. The more clear the liability, the more accurately the outcome of a trial can be predicted.

A case where the liability is very clear would be where a drunk driver drives onto the sidewalk and injures an old lady in front of a dozen people. The driver has clearly violated a bunch of laws, gone way beyond any type of acceptable behavior and there were plenty of witnesses. Fault is very clear.

A case where liability might be less clear is if a man was hit on the head by a pebble while fishing at a quiet pond. He thought he saw a woman tossing rocks into the pond earlier, but there was nobody else in the area. Although he had a small bump and bruise, he did not take any pictures of the injury and did not seek medical care. It would be very hard for anyone to prove liability in a case with such little evidence.

Damages

Damages are the amount of money that can be recovered in a lawsuit. Damages often include the medical costs, lost wages, costs to fix or replace damaged property, pain and suffering, among other things. Thus, the worse the injury the higher the damages.

In some cases there might be punitive damages involved. Punitive damages are available when harm is done intentionally or recklessly. Those damages can depend on the financial condition of the defendant.

If the drunk driver is found liable, she will be required to pay for the injuries she caused. She may be subject to punitive damages if she was intentionally trying to run someone over or was extremely intoxicated. If the rick thrower is found liable, she will probably only pay nominal damages for the insult of hitting a poor old man on the head, even if it was intentional.

Privacy is unlikely to be of any benefit to a person who finds themselves at the ugly end of a punitive damages claim. In these cases, the defendant is required to disclose their assets, no matter how well those assets are buried in the back yard. Failing to disclose something that should have been disclosed would be perjury.

Recovery

Even if there is clear liability, and even if the damages are very high, possibly including punitive damages, a key factor is the ability to recover from the defendant. If the person has no ability to pay a judgment, it is worthless to bring an expensive suit. Not being able to pay a judgment is often referred to as being judgment proof.

All attorneys will look at these factors when evaluating the strength of a case. If some factors are exceptionally high, the other factors do not need to be as high for a lawsuit to be worth it. For example, if damages are very high and the potential defendant has plenty of means to pay a judgment, they can be a target for claims where liability is marginal.

Privacy Can Stop Frivolous Lawsuits

Privacy can affect the perception of the ability to recover any judgment. As a result, the liability and/or damages will generally need to be much more clear for a case to be worth it. Before deciding whether to take a case, many attorneys will investigate potential defendants. They might look at the public records for their assets, send investigators to look at their home address, or find out what kind of job they have to see if the “Recovery” factor is high or low. If the potential defendant appears not to have much to their name, an attorney might pass on bringing a marginal claim against them.

Conclusion

If you feel like you might be a target because people are aware that your ability to pay a judgment is high it might be worth it to use a ghost address to protect your true home. It might be worth it to own real estate in the name of a trust or private business entity. Protecting your privacy might help you avoid court costs and attorneys fees to defend or settle marginal litigation and can help stop frivolous lawsuits.

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“Remember, remember the 5th of November…”

Cue the William Tell Overture!!!

Contact us about payments via cash or BitCoin.

If you have seen the movie V for Vendetta, you may remember the broadcast the character, V, sends out to challenge corruption and authoritarian rule. He did that while remaining completely anonymous. In that spirit, to celebrate the 5th of November, How To Vanish is also showing political activists, and every one else, how to do the exact same thing: exercise freedom of speech while protecting your anonymity.

People Are Fed Up

Political activism is growing around the world.  The Arab Spring, Wikileaks, the Tea Party, Occupy Wall Street, these political activists are promoting ideas that challenge the current political and economic power structure and expose political and corporate corruption across the globe.

Challenging Power Is Risky

But challenging the powerful and exposing corruption is risky. Whistleblowers suffer financially, they are harassed, ostracized, and intimidated. In extreme cases they are faced with violence, imprisonment and even death. We don’t even have to look all the way back to the Mississippi civil rights workers in the 60s who were killed for examples. There are plenty of examples in recent memory.

• Just a few days ago there were reports that 13 Syrian bloggers and journalists have disappeared.

• A Google employee, was imprisoned for several days for organizing protests against the Egyptian government.

• Joe Wilson’s wife, Valerie Plame, was outed as a CIA operative because he publicly criticized the Bush administration for using bad intelligence on WMD in the State of the Union address.

• Wikileaks is being financially blockaded, crippling their ability to function and possibly leading to the end of the whistleblowing website.

These are mild cases of intimidation. For some political activists, the threat of violence is very real.

• David Kelley, a British weapons expert, died under suspicious circumstances after revealing that the British government manipulated WMD data to make the case for the Iraq invasion.

• High ranking US politicians have called for charges of treason and the death penalty for Bradley Manning for allegedly blowing the whistle by releasing evidence of crimes committed by the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan.

• A 16 year old American citizen was targeted and killed in a drone strike, without criminal charges and with no due process of law.

 Freedom Of Speech Is Threatened

The bottom line is that people need to be able to speak out to challenge ruling powers and expose corruption without risking their finances, their freedom or their lives. But that can be very difficult to do.

The Law Is Insufficient To Protect Free Speech

The law can’t protect political activists or freedom of speech.  Very few countries have any kind of law that protects whistleblowers from unjust retaliation. Even where those laws exists, they are almost completely ineffective. In fact, those laws usually make it worse for the whistleblower.

Most countries also have laws that are used against whistleblowers to deter exposing corruption. In some countries, it is illegal to oppose the government. In places like the US, whistleblowers are often charged with all kinds of other crimes that could range from trespassing to treason.

The Powerful Are Above The Law

There is a different law for people in power. They rely on their chronies to insulate them from legal consequences. Tricky dick was pardoned by Gerald Ford and congress made AT&T immune to liability for illegal wiretapping. The investigation of the murder of the 3 civil rights workers in Mississippi in the 60s had to be done by federal officials because state officials refused to prosecute the murderers. The law is much more strict for the rest of us.

The last reason why the law cannot protect activists is because you can’t trust corrupt people to respect the rule of law. When corrupt people control the legal process, they will break the law to preserve their power and cover up their corruption.

Solution: Publish A Website Anonymously

But there is still a way for political activists to challenge the power structure and expose corruption without risking their finances, their freedom or their lives. It is by publishing anonymously on the internet with an anonymous website.

Free speech includes the concept of anonymous speech. There is a long history of anonymous speech in the US having a meaningful impact on justice.

The Watergate scandal was exposed by a person known only as Deep Throat.  That scandal led to the resignation of Nixon and has had a lasting impact on politics in the US.  That revelation was only possible because Deep Throat could remain anonymous.

We Need New Tools To Protect Anonymity In A World With New Technology

The techniques that were used in the past were well suited for their time.  But now we live in the information age.  We need a lot of new techniques and new tools to protect our anonymous speech.  Those same tools that were used previously may not be as effective as they were in the past.  There is simply more information now that is aggregated, filtered, sorted, archived, and often forgotten.

Placing an anonymous call to a reporter, slipping a note under the door of a newspaper, or leaving an anonymous comment on the web may not be enough to effectively challenge power and corruption.  Wee need the power of the internet.

Constant Electronic And Financial Surveillance Make Anonymity Difficult

We are also living in a time of almost complete digital and financial surveillance. Every phone call you make, every email you send, very website you visit, every book you buy on amazon.com, and every financial transaction you make is recorded, databased and searchable. Usually without a warrant.

All of that activity can be traced right back to you, making it very hard to do anything anonymously.  Advanced computer forensic tools can search through tons of electronic records and  reveal our identity.  So when a court ordered Judith Miller to reveal her source, there were plenty of ways for her to comply.  When she refused, she was sent to jail.  If her source had taken steps to protect his anonymity, even from the reporter, that reporter could not have been compelled to produce the identity of her source and would not have served jail time.

At How To Vanish we know how important it is to be able to speak anonymously. And we know some things about privacy that others don’t.

5 Step System To Create Website Anonymously

So we created a simple 5 Step System to publish a website, completely anonymously.

• Protect Identity – This system will give political activists the anonymity they need to challenge the political and corporate power structure and expose corruption in high places while completely protecting their own identity.

• Anonymous Internet  – We show you how to use the internet completely anonymously to prevent electronic surveillance so your identity stays secret.

• No Financial Transaction Record – We show you 4 easy ways to make anonymous payments for services that you might need to publish your information. There will be no audit trail that leads back to your bank account or credit card. Searches of financial records won’t lead to your identity, whether they have a warrant or not.

• Prevent Financial Blockade – We also show you how to accept anonymous payments to prevent financial blockade like Wikileaks.

• Forbidden Knowledge – Most of the solutions you will see to publish a website anonymously will not work.  They rely on a complete false sense of security that will not keep the least motivated people from discovering your identity, let alone the corrupt individuals you expose.  Only this 5 Step System will give you superior identity protection.

•  Easy – And finally, the 5 Step System is extremely easy and completely within the law so just about any political activist can use it. You don’t need to have any advanced hacking skills to use it.

Ultimately, this 5 Step System will show you how to speak freely without being subject to threats, intimidation, financial ruin, prison, or even death.

Get Your Copy Of 5 Steps To Anonymous Speech

“Remember, remember the 5th of November.”  Get your freedom of speech back. Click on the order link now to get your 5 Steps to Anonymous Speech.

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Remember, remember the 5th of November...!!!  Check out the 5th of November special event from How To Vanish.  There may be fireworks!

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Lots of people enjoy the peace and solitude of a private outdoor space.  But we don’t have to be in a remote wilderness to bask in natural light and a gentle breeze.  We can create our own private outdoor spaces in sprawling suburbia and in the vast urban jungles of modern life. Whether it is to cover an unsightly view outside, or to shield yourself from nosy neighbors, a little private outdoor space can make living in dense neighborhoods a lot more relaxing. If all you have is a little patio, deck, porch, or balcony, you can create a tranquil and inviting outdoor place all to yourself.

Privacy screens are a great way to enclose an intimate space where you can eat, read, or enjoy a nice conversation from time to time.  Even if you have a home with a large yard but you either can’t install a fence, or you simply lack the desire to undertake a huge fence building project, you can use privacy screens to enclose a small area for an undisturbed, unseen sanctuary. Here are some simple ideas to get you a bit more outdoor privacy in the urban jungle. All of these solutions are relatively cheap, easy, and will work well to meet all kinds of needs.

Portable Privacy Screen

The simplest way to create a private outdoor space is to put up a privacy screen or two.  Privacy screens are inexpensive, easy to install, easy to rearrange, and come in a wide variety of styles.  Buy enough to surround your entire space or place them strategically to block certain views.

Potted Hedge

When planting your own privacy hedge is out of the question, potted plants, even fake ones, can be used to surround your patio with an attractive and eco-friendly green screen.     It is also a great way to beautify an urban landscape.

Combo Package

Lattice growing plants are a great way to combine the ease of a privacy screen with some natural beauty.  There are dozens of varieties of potted plants that grow up lattice work to create a beautiful but impenetrable screen to shield the outside world from your rest and relaxation.

Water Fountain

One aspect of an urban outdoor space that people don’t often consider is keeping their patio  conversations  private. If your neighbors are within earshot, they could easily overhear lots of fodder for juicy neighborhood gossip.  Or, if you live near a busy street, you may want to cover up the pervasive sound of city traffic.  A small water fountain is a great way to create a soothing background sound to keep eavesdroppers out of the loop and keep the hustle and bustle of the thoroughfare out of your ears.

Conclusion

We don’t have to give up a private outdoor space when we live in more densely populated areas.   Practical privacy solutions, like portable privacy screens, potted hedges and water fountains, are great ways to give yourself a private sanctuary in a busy, nosy world.  For other great ideas on making your home a more private place, check out the book How To Vanish.

Remember, remember the 5th of November…!!!  Check back at HowToVanish.com on November 5th for a special event.  There may be fireworks!

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