Ok running my first shadowrun campaign tomorrow, and I'm wondering; how big of a deal will this quality be and is their anyway to get around it?

It seems like if you just dumped your comlink, and got a new one with fake info on it you wouldn't ever have to worry about it... am I wrong?

Well a SIN is linked to biometric data, DNA databases, fingerprint databases, photos. So evidence left behind at the scene of a run may be able to be tracked back to you. And you never know when that may cause you a problem.

I believe it's ment to be a possible plot hook that a GM can call on, in the beginning stages of a campaign it may be basically free points. But chummer, you can't get away with it forever.

And some day you may get tapped to do a run that you would otherwise deny. Think of Robert Redford's character in Sneakers.

As I understand it, you don't actually need to dump a commlink to get rid of your SIN - just replace the real SIN on the commlink with the fake one, and you're set. This will solve many of your problems, but of course fake SINs carry their own risks (like all fake IDs ). While the fake SINs can hide who you are, they don't erase you completely. For example, if you leave DNA evidence at a crime scene and the investigators collect it, your real SIN will come up when they run the DNA through the system, so they'll be able to state conclusively that "John Average was here!"

A real SIN also comes with things like tax audits, jury duty, and so on.

Not if they think you're dead!

EDIT: Oh yeah, I should make it clear that the SINs of dead people are kept on file; your DNA and biometric data and stuff can be traced back to your SIN, even if you've faked your death successfully.

Mmm... I would think that the amount of data, biometric and so on, would be dependant on your background. Someone with a criminal record would certainly have most of these on file, but someone with a squecky clean record would likely have, maybe, only one. For example, today the only time fnger prints are on file is when you are booked. Obviously, photo ID would be universal, but what is one file would likely depend on the amount of traveling the character has done, criminal record, and laws of his/her birthplace.

A criminal SIN, however, would likely have all of these on file.

In addition, since there are ways to create a SIN, there are likely ways to make one disappear as well. While much harder and far more expensive, it should be an option. Perhaps have a setup similar to a fake SIN. Maybe like this;

SIN Removal (Rating 1-6)
Cost; Rating x 3000
Avail; Rating x 5

[Edit: The rating represents the effectiveness and detail given to the removal. Records will likely ALWAYS exsist, but are harder to access and more obscure the higher the rating. This works with both criminal and normal SINs, but is more commonly used by Runners who have been caught, given a criminal SIN, and survived.]
And this would work in concert with a Fake SIN. With a verification system, if the SIN is found to be fake or if the fake SIN glitches, a test between the system and the rating of the SIN removal is rolled. (having 2 SINs pop up would be as hilarious as it is dangerous.) For anything else that might ID the character (DNA at a crime scene for example) the test between the verifcation and the SIN removal rating.

I would suggest that if the character buys the SINner quality and tries to buy this at character creation, you either level heavy penalties (doubling the cost, halving the points gained from the quality) or disallow it. At least some roleplaying should be involved in getting this in game, not simply "Oh, I'll just buy this during downtime."

This seem a fair example?

according to the BBB, negative qualities can be bought off for double the karma that you gained in BP from the quality. it therefore stands to reason that anyone trying to buy it off for anything less than that amount (10 for normal, 20 for criminal) should be shot. with a hammer. possibly mounted on an orbital bovine being prepared for bombardment.