If you want phones that are less likely to have as much creepy stuff on them try the website I listed below. They sell a lot of cheap knock off unlocked gsm cell phones shipped straight from Hong Kong.

Any cell phone can still be used as a tracking device, but a phone without all the e911/agps stuff wouldn't be as accurate.

On a sidenote that site also sells a lot of cool gadgets like pen cameras, but everything is of varying quality some good, some bad and some very dangerous (like the unfiltered high powered lasers that could blind you).

Submitted Link #1: http://dealextreme.com...

If someone is searching for assets how exactly do they find your bank accounts (I know you said it is done by state)?

... That is set up as the subject of one of my blogs, for later this month. If you check the new post each Monday, you'll soon find an answer to your question.

1. When you get a new phone number (cell phone only-we NEVER do land lines anymore)"Google" the number. Sometimes it has been used before. This could be good mis-direction info later on.

2. Take your new phone number, and make up a few healthly mis-directions on those "who's number is this?" Website search engines. Our favorite is to make ourselves science intellectuals, with egg head jobs at dull colleges. That way, anyone "googles" your phone number, sees a smart egghead, and moves on.

3. Post fake stuff about yourself. We found a few blog types that let you insert a picture of someone. We picked a good looking, couple, posing in front of their new beach house in Malibu, Ca. Now, anyone googling our names for images--get these two models,not us.

4. Add extra phone lines to your cell phone accounts. When our current numbers became over used, we found we could add extra phones with new numbers to our existing accounts. No new credit checks, just get new phones, and fresh numbers to use.

5. After we file our bankruptcy, we are going to get new license plates for the car. We cover up the VIN # with a postcard, and use fake parking lot stickers that aren't ours( car bone yards are good for this peal and stick relocation).

6. Mis-direct, Mis-direct, Mis-direct.

7. Another fun thing to do is: Change your first names every time you are introduced at the gym or apartment complex. Any time the name game comes up, around the gym, we change our first names, so other gym members don't get the same name over and over again on us. This works well for the apartment complex we live in, and a social club we attend but aren't paying members of. Church--just use fake names here--god doesn't care what name you use to make your tidings in....

8. Last but not least. Got a old rubber stamp from a large well known second had store. The same came from a business that had gone out of business 5 years earlier. When we needed to enlighten someone about something going on, without having to "get involved" we used the stamp as a return address. If anyone "googled" the return address, all they get is a history of this out of business, business. This could be a way around not wanting your return address photographed by the U.S. Post Office.

... Although I do not agree with all you say (especially #7), some of the ideas were right on the mark (such as #2) so I am posting this.

My question is, what's to stop a living person like me from putting his name on this list? The DMA has no need to know if I'm alive or not, and it sounds like a good way to get out of these marketing databases. Is this a good strategy, or are there problems that could arise with pretending to be 'deceased'?

Submitted Link #1: https://www.ims-dm.com/cgi/ddnc.php...

... tHIS may complicate your life. If a bank gets hold of it, any acounts you have will be closed. I much prefer to use my rubber stamp and then return to sender:

MOVED--LEFT NO ADDRESS

While I agree one should be careful in what is said to law enforcement it is a big misconception that police are strangers to stopping and dealing with vehicles registered to business.

As a former LEO I would estimate that a forth of all the cars I ever stopped in my career didn't belong to the driver of said vehicle. Police stop business owners, rental cars, spouses with different names, friends borrowing vehicles to move furniture, ect everyday of the week and the simple fact the vehicle is registered differently in and of itself doesn't raise any eyebrows.

On simple traffic stops, assuming the vehicle is not reported stolen or there is no probable cause to believe it was just used in the commission of a crime one does not have to prove authorization to operate any vehicle in any state.

Also the police have no right to detain you (or your vehicle) any further simply based on that as they have no way to verify your allowed to operate it or not. All things being normal if they do tow it, seek out a good lawyer as you now have an excellent lawsuit for the police violating your 4th Amendment rights against unlawful search and seizure.

And yes I understand every ones dislike toward law enforcement but no cop worth his salt is going to put himself in danger of a civil action over something so trivial as this.

... Excellent information, Jay. Very much appreciated!

A "bearer" authorization sounds like a good idea, but I agree that the police are going to doubt its authenticity because anyone could type it up. A letterhead document signed by the "president" of the company (who in my case is me, under my pen name) authorizing a specific person, you, to possess the vehicle ought to be sufficient, and will be more trusted because it specifically links you to the car. You're going to be giving the cop your driver's license anyway, so it's going to end up linked to you anyway, though to what extend depends on the department, it's records system, and the offense.

It might also be useful to carry a photocopy of the official NM document to prove that the company actually exists.

You should always have a plausible story worked out in advance. Although I strongly recommend that you NEVER talk to the police, there are some times you have to, and identifying yourself is one of those times. And if you hope to be allowed to proceed, you'll need to prove to the cop's satisfaction that you're authorized to have the vehicle, otherwise they will impound and tow it, and then you're in a pickle trying to get a fictional company executive to come get the car released. That's one downside of titling a car in a company name.

You can, of course, be up front with the registration folks and the police and simply tell them you own the company and title your vehicles in its name for privacy purposes. That's not illegal after all. The benefit of this is that you can have the authorization letter notarized with your signature on it, which adds to its credibility.

If you want to use a nominee as a putative company officer, select him/her carefully, because you'll be giving them legal authority over your vehicle. A family member using a maiden name would be good, or a trusted friend. Just be sure to fill them in on what to do if the cops call for verification of your authority to have the car.

Of course the best plan is to drive carefully and not get stopped....

... I've been stopped several times during the past seven years. In each case, I was asked if I worked for the company [the LLC that owns the car]. Each time I answered, "No, I own the company." No further questions were asked, even though my DL is from one state and the license plates are from another.

The key to the problem is to remain totally calm, respectful, and mention the ownership in a matter-of-fact way, not showing any nervousness. (Why be nervous? You DO own the LLC, right?)

I haven't been able to pursue the Egypt phones myself, but it might be a nice little business for somebody to have Egyptian cell phones sent to them and then resell them to privacy followers. It would be great if you could find a way to verify for sure that each phone was, in fact, lacking GPS.

On a side note, Egypt appears to only have GSM phones (AT&T & T-Mobile). That leaves out phones that can work with Alltel, Verizon (CDMA) & Sprint / Nextel (IDEN). By the way, for deciphering cell phone info, I use phonescoop.com and howardforums.com.

Submitted Link #1: http://www.edibleapple.com/apple-nixes-gps-on-ipho...

A search (on the recommendation of Katherine Albrecht, RFID / Spychips.org, I now use ixquick.com which doesn't track searches like Google) came up with Richard M. Smith as a computer privacy expert and activist. Anybody know anything about him? I extend my appreciation in advance for any advice!

... Pat, I have a source for you BUT ... you chose to not include your e-mail address, so he is unable to contact you! [UPDATE] Pat later sent me his number and I passed it on to my source.

In such situations you have a choice: either find another insurance company that will, after disclosure, insure a vehicle held in an LLC with a personal policy, or pay something extra and have your vehicle commercially insured.

I'm looking into a fleet policy for my vehicles, which may give me comparable rates if I certify that the vehicles will be driven only by drivers over 40 years of age. A fleet policy combined with LLC ownership pretty much completely divorces the vehicle from the individual.

But, be sure to carry a letter of authorization from the LLC that authorizes you, the individual, to possess and use the vehicle along with your other papers, so the police don't seize the vehicle as potentially stolen.