We've seen into in film and tv: The heroes or villains (when portrayed as the government) get your phone number and connect a call, then track you via that connection. In real life, my phone number has been mine for like...11 years. My work numbers have changed based on changes in...err...work, but if you know my # you can get a hold of me. Thankfully as a cell phone its not immediately available in a phone book, though like everyone else, whenever we have to use our number on some form, it increases the chance of spam as it gets onto other lists and other lists and other lists.

So then we look to some of the (at this time, only SR4 and before adventures, since there aren't any SR5 ones yet) adventure modules and see where various contacts and the like are calling the runner seemingly directly. It occurs to me how long term potentially dangerous that is for a runner, so how do they otherwise manage so that doesn't get them killed? Granted, as a game mechanic, it doesn't really matter, the GM can just go "Yeah they get in touch with you" and basically gloss over the Fake ID stuff as you flip through them as needed, but it made me think of the underlying narrative around it.

"Burn number"? Also in tv and film we have the 'burner phone' where no one has the number to the big bad's phone and he uses it to keep connected through collateral contacts, or the hero spy has one as a clean-phone. When compromised (too many people have the number, the owner knows the number will show up on the guy they just made dead phone, Big Brother does a cold call, whatever) they ditch it and find another.

Possible use for a Runner, especially in context with attaching it to a fake ID, so you have your fake ID and a commlink set up and then ditch it if burnt. The downside being that you'd want to make it disposable, and if disposable it can potentially be difficult for important people like a Johnson or your Fixer to get in touch with you until they know the new number. Likewise, a former contact (and typical GM story angle) won't be able to use that same 'number' to get in touch with you.

"Message service"? You have a number stored in a host somewhere that can take incoming calls and then that gets routed to whatever actual commlink/code you're currently using to receive. Acting like a matrix switchboard it connects you to the number but doesn't directly compromise you unless whoever is looking for you has wormed/brute forced their way into the host location to see what numbers this contact number is connected to. The recipient can know who is calling, but the caller only knows the 'public' number. In this case the protection depends on how good a particular host is. It also allows for multiple regions. You could have a public (sorta) number for your contacts in a particular region of the world and have multiple ones for different regions so you don't necessarily lose your entire web of contacts if one is compromised.

Any other thoughts?

If this is SR5, buy a Meta Link for ¥100 and never attach a SIN to it and never upload important data to it; give the commcode for it only to your fixer, who can forward Johnsons to you as necessary. Ditch when you think it's compromised & repeat.

If this is SR4, install a spoof chip (Arsenal, page 105; they're not just for vehicles/drones) into your commlink for regular shadow work. When you're thinking it's about to be compromised, use the chip to change the access ID and register the device with a new MSP for a new commcode (in part, Unwired, page 53, Commcodes), and then give that new commcode to your fixer. You keep your commlink, all of its important data, and because the old access ID is now gone your old MSP can't route the old commcalls to your 'link; the old access ID is now useless to use to trace you with. Repeat as necessary.

I've always figured 'runners move squats far too often to keep the same number.

Likely Fixers and the like are more given to keeping the same "Number", but have checks in place to keep from that being an issue. Deckers do love to play around with communications systems.

"Are you sure this is where the Fixer is working out of?" "His CommLink says he is here. Why?" "Well, he has three women draped over him at all times, and is a troll, while this bar is a very Humanocentric Gay Bar. You know, the guys that pick fights with BOTH the Humanis and Sons for giggles." "Um... Joey, none of us are human, and only one of us is gay." "I'm a gay elf, it isn't going to help me."

Email, maybe?

That'd fit nicely with the whole "cloud computing" BS about the new Matrix. Your contact number isn't tied to your commlink, it's tied to a nebulous, distributed non-location in the matrix. All your commlink does is plug into that account remotely, and recieve the communication feeds piped to it.

~Umi

The whole idea of the matrix rebuild was to make it more secure and more monitizable. Think location based spam, tracking cookies etc. There is a lot of money in that and I can hardly see corps or governments giving up that for some silly idea like "privacy". So no, I don't see that.

To quote some major tech CEOs takes on the importance of privacy as they see it:
Scott McNealy - Sun: "You have zero privacy anyway, Get over it."
Eric Schmidt - HorizonGoogle: "If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place."
Mark Zuckerberg - Facebook: Privacy Not the 'Social Norm'.

Except that somehow JackPoint is still floating around, and even has their own Host? Along with other dissident groups, ranging from neo-anarchists, to radical ecoterrorists, to private hacking communities, to organized crime syndicates, et cetera? And anything that happens inside a Host is safe from GOD? So clearly you can get some measure of privacy if you know how?

So someone wants to meet with you? They send a message to your "P.O. Box" inside a certain Host. If your "box" is empty when the new message arrives, the box sends out a notification to your registered commlink, "You have mail!". Then you just log into the host and access your "box" to check your mail: hmm, seems your Fixer has landed you a Johnson, the guy wants to meet at [Place] at [Time] to discuss details.

Maybe a Host doesn't employ cloud computing, I dunno. My point was less about that, and more about the fact that you could have an "email" system pretty easily.

~Umi

Why do you think that wherever your staying has anything to do with your number? Do your runners use land lines? Do you even still use a land line today?

Though maybe you do, what with the terrible cell phone reception out on the tundra. Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if your internet was delivered to you by a beaver mounted satellite dish and smoke signals. But the rest of us that live some place where there's actually enough people in a 40 mile radius to form a gaming group and who are under 50, use cell phones now.

Cell phone service is great on the prairies. Nothing to get in the way but snow and buildings.

But all I have today is a landline. Tried the cellphone thing. Part of how I'm able to write for heartless megacorporations is how Canadian telecommunications companies treat their customers and employees.

Honestly, truth is harder than fiction. Even with a dragon to blame for things.

Yeah I kinda like the message server/rerouter aspect. Have some shadow host (I'm sure there are many) that can be used for number/call routing, and would be decently protected from intrusion, heck do the old daisy chain thing so it routes through many shadow hosts.