Turncoat Politics

Disappearing in the Age of the Data Wake: Is it possible to hide anymore?

A recent client told us about an article in Wired where Evan Ratliff made an attempt to vanish.  In today’s digital age it is nearly impossible to not be seen, heard, or contacted anytime.  What is worse is that our expectation for replies gets shorter and shorter. 

The law of unintended consequences knows no more relevant place than on the interweb.  An attempt to make health care equal leads to an open kimono of information about who you are and what you do.  A spring break trip with friends posted on facebook reveals a character flaw by a potential employer.  I have always believed that if you give it all away, no one can take anything from you, but a few media folks are proving the opposite.

Evan Ratliff is one example, and over in the UK, David Bond has made his attempt to hide from Big Brother.  His try was less open-source (read: 90’s hacker movie) but rather he enlisted the help of two former detectives who run a P.I. business.  He documented the journey and the film showed at SXSW this year.

One Part “The Grid” and one part “The Blair Witch Project” it is a look at what happens when you try to slip away in the third most-watchful society behind Russia and China.