Social Media Can Help You Fake Your Own Death 146
Julie188 writes "We are inundated with warnings that social media is systematically stripping away our privacy. But Frank Ahearn, the so-called 'Dear Abby' of disappearing, is attempting to show folks how to use those same technologies to regain your privacy, even helping you go as far as faking your own death. Ahearn is a professional skip-tracer who has hunted down people like Monica Lewinsky. In an interview with Ahearn on Network World, he says, 'One can legally disappear through the use of corporations and offshore corporations. The idea is to embrace technology and to become a virtual entity.' My favorite tip is that New Zealand is the place to land once you leap off the grid. Not only is it far from most of the rest of the English speaking world, he says, but it also has great beaches."
Obligatory Simpsons (Score:5, Funny)
Damnit (Score:5, Funny)
Doesn't matter (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Damnit (Score:2, Funny)
Where am I supposed to skip to if I'm starting in .nz?
I guess to the same place the rest of you Kiwis skip too... Australia. Slightly lower sheep:man ratio here but the weather is better!
Meanwhile, here in New Zealand... (Score:5, Funny)
The Government here has a few thousand monkeys that spend all their time browsing through the various redundant overlapping government agency databases to catch you out for identity fraud, benefit fraud, unlawfully riding a train without a ticket or forgetting to tie your shoelaces in the morning. But yeah, we have some nice beaches, so it's worth the risk
Re:Damnit (Score:2, Funny)
Northland. All the good weather of Australia, and a far lower aussie:human ratio.
Re:Damnit (Score:2, Funny)
Re:And if you want to be dead (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Doesn't matter (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Damnit (Score:5, Funny)
(note: this post is based on a true experience someone told me).
Re:Damnit (Score:1, Funny)
Brother, if you're in NZ already it's almost like being dead.
I thought I was dead once. Turns out I was just in Christchurch.
Re:Damnit (Score:1, Funny)
Have you tried North Korea? When you disappear there, you're pretty much guaranteed never to be found in any realistic time frame, ever again.
Of course, there IS that small matter of the funny neighbor with the odd glasses you might meet. He seems to insist that his name is "Dear Leader" or some such nonsense, and from what I've heard, he has a pretty bad temper. You might wish to avoid him.
Facebook could do it all (Score:5, Funny)
It's easy.
Lord_of_the_nerf has changed his relationship status to Single
Lord_of_the_nerf likes The Cure and Why Does Everyone Who Loves Me Leave???
Lord_of_the_nerf's current status: *sigh* WHEN DOES THE HURTING STOP???
Lord_of_the_nerf likes Schick Razors and Warm Baths
Re:Meanwhile, here in New Zealand... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Not Australia (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Doesn't matter (Score:3, Funny)
You know, they do have names:...T-800 (don't think it had a name?).
So, what you're saying is, they do-don't have names?
Re:Damnit (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Damnit (Score:3, Funny)
Thank sir/ma'am! You're the ever vigilant patriot every country needs to keep an eye on the most southern continent. We must keep watch in case the Emperor Penguin makes his move on the rest of the world!
Interesting twist (Score:5, Funny)
And here I thought social media was used to fake a life...
Re:Damnit (Score:1, Funny)
Re:And if you want to be dead (Score:3, Funny)
Even your natural disasters are boring :)