Surveillance Society, This is what can be done now Options

[kzt]

(Just cancel the print, it's there so you get a single page view. )
Surveillance Society: New High-Tech Cameras Are Watching You.

A fairly interesting article.

Consider what another 50 years of improvements in databases, recognition algorithms, networking, essentially infinite storage, and vastly faster processors would do. And corporate data sharing agreements with the police and each other. Not to mention crazy ideas like making people carry around RF transmitters broadcasting their SSN SIN all the time to the cops. . . .

[Cthulhudreams]

The power of datamining systems and databases it expose relationships between people is quite amazing too. There are a pair of products called analysts notebook and ibase that are targeted at the intelligence community, but what they do is take a set of underlying records, and then find all the relationships between people based on the records, like that they where mentioned in the same news article, lived in the same house, worked at the same firm etc depending on what information you feed it.

The power is quite staggering, you can instantly identify that the criminal you've got here used to live with this other guy (which you find out from the electoral role) also worked at the place who got broken into, and maybe you should go ask him some questions now.

Its not just the information people can get, but it is the improving ability of people to take the information storm and find the useful relationships. And with more infomation, you can derive more relationships.

[mmu1]

Just more examples of stuff you need to ignore (or rationalize away) in order to run a generic cyberpunk game. :)

The tools available to would-be criminals in core SR are already insuffiicient to get by decent RL security, never mind something which takes 50 years of advances into account. So GMs either need to let certain things go, and design sub-par security, or the runners need to adapt and substitute well-timed brute force and speed (something like real-life commando tactics) for all sorts of cinematic MI-style nonsense that relies on kindly screenwriters. :P

[hyzmarca]

That's why balkanization and extraterritoriality are great. When you can walk though 15 different non-overlapping legal jurisdictions, many of them hostile each other, on one shopping trip, the chances of a significant amount surveillance data being shared and aggregated is slim to none.

[kzt]

Since only AAAs get extraterritoriality (spit) and there are only 10 of them, you do this how? Not to mention they all need to maintain fairly good relations with the organization that provides perimeter protection (Successfully sniping Renraku executives from the city park is the misdemeanor "firing a gun inside city limits" if it lands in extraterritorial territory) for their little extraterritorial castles, or it gets really hard to get help solving crimes that are important to them that take place off their extraterritorial domain. Like said nut with the sniper rifle, as the Star doesn't put much effort into misdemeanors.

[MITJA3000+]

[Ravor]

That makes two of us, as I remember AA status being something that was highly prized for the major perks that went along with it.

Still, something to remember is that in a world where the nanosecond buyout happened, there isn't much to keep a AA+ corp from shifting the legals around to turn one of their non-extraterritorial holding corps into one at a moment's notice, especially considering that for the most part the governments of the world are nice little corp lapdogs.

However, remember that if the sniper got away with a slap on the wrist, there really isn't anything to keep Renraku from playing tit-for-tat next week.

[Fortune]

Only AAA Corporations are eligible for extraterritoriality, and even then not every building, facility or factory qualifies. There are several specific guidelines and limitations on extraterritoriality.

[Gelare]

All AAA corporations are extraterritorial. Some AA corps have it, it's something given out by the Corporate Court and highly coveted among the AAs. I believe DocWagon, an AA corp, is among those with extraterritoriality, and I'm betting Lone Star has it too, although I could be wrong on that last one.

[Cthulhudreams]

IF you implement the real power of law enforcement and surveillance, its pretty obvious pretty quickly that we'd end up with minority report rather than shadowrun, so I can only assumed that hyzmarca's and the 'big brother had ADHD' explainations have to be true for shadowrun to function. (Despite the amazing data collection and aggregation abilities inherent in just agents)

[Kagetenshi]

[nezumi]

As the article states, it is rare for a technology, once successfully deployed, to be successfully curbed. This is especially true in the case of things like cameras, which continue to get smaller and more easily concealed (contrasted to say swords, which at one point were all but the sign of a gentleman, but now because of legal restrictions and the fact that they're so hard to hide, are almost unheard of even among those who would have a genuine cause to use them).

However, whenever a new technology is introduced, almost inevitably there is a move to create a defense against it. Cameras are being released, I'm sure the effectiveness of minor things to change the look of a face, to hide fingerprints, etc. will also be released. Possibly jammers (for wireless cameras) or even at some point low-level EMP generators (I know it's not possible now, but I imagine it will be at some point, even if they have to be vehicle mounted) will become more available.

[martindv]

EDIT: Oops. Somehow I didn't see Kagetenshi's post. Never mind.

This post has been edited by martindv: Jan 7 2008, 04:02 PM

[Gelare]

[Moon-Hawk]

[Kagetenshi]

No time to check, but I believe "mega" is reserved for the Big Eight/Ten.

~J

[Gelare]

[Kagetenshi]

Yes, the Big Foo, the Megacorps, the AAAs, and the Corporate Court members are all exactly the same, because the criteria for membership is identical.

However, they've apparently changed the criteria for membership in the AAs in SR4. I will withhold my comment about that, though you can probably guess it.

~J

[martindv]

Something snide and insulting, no doubt.

[Kagetenshi]

Probably just insulting, I'm too tired to be snide.

~J