Book Description
From cyberspace to crawl spaces, new innovations in information gathering have left the private life of the average person open to scrutiny, and worse, exploitation. In this thoroughly revised update of his immensely popular guide How to Be Invisible, J.J. Luna shows you how to protect yourself from these information predators by securing your vehicle and real estate ownership, your bank accounts, your business dealings, your computer files, your home address, and more.

J.J. Luna, a highly trained and experienced security consultant, shows you how to achieve the privacy you crave and deserve, whether you just want to shield yourself from casual scrutiny or take your life savings with you and disappearing without a trace. Whatever your needs, Luna reveals the shocking secrets that private detectives and other seekers of personal information use to uncover information and then shows how to make a serious commitment to safeguarding yourself.

There is a prevailing sense in our society that true privacy is a thing of the past. Filled with vivid real life stories drawn from the headlines and from Luna's own consulting experience, How to Be Invisible, Revised Edition is a critical antidote to the privacy concerns that continue only to grow in magnitude as new and more efficient ways of undermining our personal security are made available. Privacy is a commonly-lamented casualty of the Information Age and of the world's changing climate-but that doesn't mean you have to stand for it.



About the Author
J. J. (Jack) Luna sold his outdoor advertising business in the Upper Midwest in 1959 and moved with his wife and small children to Spain's Canary Islands (off the coast of West Africa). Outwardly, he worked as a professional writer and photographer. Secretly, however, he dodged the Spanish Secret Police while working underground in an activity that was at that time illegal under the dictatorship of Generalissimo Francisco Franco. In 1970 Franco, yielding to intense pressure from the western world, moderated Spain's laws. Luna was now free to come in from the cold. By that time, however, privacy had become an ingrained habit. In the years that followed he started up various low-profile home-based businesses, built them up and then sold them. He is currently an international consultant specializing in personal privacy and security.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Sweeping changes since 9/11 have encroached upon personal privacy as never before. This new edition of J. J. Luna's classic manual covers everything from driver's licenses and pizza deliveries to anonymous ownership of vehicles and real estate. From Cyberspace to Crawl Spaces, innovations in information gathering have left the private life of the average person open to scrutiny and, worse, exploitation. In this thoroughly revised update of his immensely popular guide How to Be Invisible, J. J. Luna shows you how to protect yourself from these information predators by securing your vehicle and real estate ownership, your bank accounts, your business dealings, your computer files, your home address, and more.

J. J. Luna, a highly trained and experienced security consultant, shows you how to achieve the privacy you crave and deserve, whether you just want to shield yourself from casual scrutiny or take your life savings with you and disappear without a trace. Whatever your needs, Luna reveals the shocking secrets of private detectives and other seekers of personal information and then shows how to make a serious commitment to safeguarding yourself.

There is a prevailing sense in our society that true privacy is a thing of the past. Filled with vivid real-life stories drawn from the headlines and from Luna's own consulting experience, How to Be Invisible, Revised Edition is a critical antidote to the privacy concerns that continue only to grow in magnitude as new and more efficient ways of undermining our personal security are made available. Privacy is a commonly lamented casualty of the Information Age and of the world's changing climate -- but that doesn't mean you have to stand for it.

SYNOPSIS

For most of us, privacy means an unlisted telephone number. But what about your Social Security number? Your credit card numbers? Your bank account statements? Your personal health data? You may think this information is also secure, but if you've ever ordered anything over the Internet, or if your credit card is on file at the local video store just in case you never return that copy of Titanic, or if you throw out bank statements without shredding them, then this information is now in the public domain, and can easily be discovered and used against you by a private eye, a computer hacker, or even a vengeful neighbor or former lover. Once someone gains control of even a shred of your personal information, they can gain control of your life. They can transform this information into access to your assets, your loved ones, even your identity. And if you think it couldn't happen to you, you're wrong. If major Internet sites can be hacked into and disrupted, then certainly your own information is there for the taking. And once your privacy is gone, there's very little you can do to get it back.

J.J. Luna, a highly-trained and experienced security consultant, can show you how to achieve the privacy you crave, whether you just want to shield yourself from casual scrutiny, or take your life savings and disappear without a trace. He'll reveal the shocking secrets that private eyes use to uncover information, and then show you how to safeguard against them. Filled with vivid real-life stories drawn from the headlines and from Luna's own consulting experience, How to Be Invisible is the essential guide to preserving your personal security. Privacy is commonly lamented as the first casualty of the Information Age-but that doesn't mean you have to stand for it.

Your privacy is in your hands!

FROM THE CRITICS

Kirkus Reviews

A subversive, disturbing, and altogether remarkable exposure of our frightening transparency to government agencies, investigators, the media, and more malign forces. Luna, a security consultant who "spent 11 years running a secret operation in Franco's Spain" (presumably outwitting the state police), begins by presenting formidable evidence of the demolition of personal privacy in the information age, as well as a chilling hypothetical selection of ways in which this state of affairs can ruin the existence of Joe & Jane Citizen (from false criminal accusations to stalking to lawsuits). His wryly presented conclusion—that advanced privacy measures are "flood insurance"—are borne out through the clear-headed instructional chapters that follow. First he shows how to protect one's physical space: how to construct an alternative mail-drop and "ghost" address, how to keep your real domicile unknown, and how to avoid using one's social-security number and birthdate for identification purposes. Although his suggestions seem surprisingly simple, he offers stern disclaimers to consult legal professionals. Further chapters delve deeply into the complicated netherworld of trusts, limited-liability companies, personal nominees, secret home businesses, anonymous travel, hidden ownership of vehicles and real estate, and so forth. One cannot but note that such information, although certainly invaluable to people in particular demographics (such as undercover cops or abused women, who might well need to "disappear"), is most often utilized by a new breed of transnational organized crime (with examples evident from Nick Leeson to the Russian Mafia). Yet Luna—whoseslightlyornate prose suggests Nero Wolfe after several Belgian ales—makes a bracing, serious argument for the aggressive defense of one's informational and asset privacy, acidly noting throughout how governmental entities constantly attempt to seal the doors of invisibility, as in their harrassment of mail-receiving services. This is a memorable work which should be considered by many and undoubtedly will be acted upon by some.