Again, here are some notes for my own campaign. Comments / constructive criticism are welcome. %%%% What remains of Privacy in 10 AF Much of what 20th century people would understand as privacy is dead, but some shreds still remain. Given the transhuman nature, these small remnants are valued even more and violating them is considered highly reprehensible, illegal and garner real bad PR. Public surveillance systems are generically known as "Big Brother" for culture-historical reasons and although there have been several expensive memetic campaigns to promote more neutral terms these campaigns have either backfired or proven mostly ineffective. Most of the hypercorp PR departments have simply given up on the issue, although new campaigns are tried every now and then. (Culture Note: Although many would prefer 1984 forgotten to history, it remains a popular and "edgily transgressive" read despite curious facts like eg. Experia never touching it despite potential profitability. The Anarchist-produced XP adaptation is considered especially educational and banned in many more oppressive jurisdictions.) As noted in EP p.49, most habitats have at least minimum surveillance everywhere for dangerous air leaks, fires, explosions, etc. The Level of surveillance normally goes up from there, depending on local law. More conscientous habitats leave public surveillance to AIs specifically programmed to monitor only things that might endanger habitat or people and to not divulge anything else without proper authorization, eg. court order. Most places also store their public surveillance data only for few weeks or months, as the amount of data collected is tremendous and data itself is considered sensitive, so keeping it around is problematic. Also, in relatively liberal jurisdictions countersurveillance devices are included in any self-respecting housecleaning closet and regularly used. Most homes also include a "bug trap" at entrance (hat tip to Vernor Vinge) designed to catch any "bugs" people might inadvertently carry. There is a constant war going on with surveillance- and countersurveillance equipment designers and you can never be absolutely certain about the effectiveness of your countersurveillance... Something that keeps Stellar Intelligence, Gorgon Defense Systems, Direct Action and their myriad competitors happy with steady business. In more repressive regimes (eg. Jovian Junta), the torrent of public surveillance data is thoroughly analyzed and datamined by specialized AIs and secret police, although AIs are notoriously bad at handling eg. poetry (hat tip to Charlie Stross) and as a rule of thumb proper panoptikon surveillance requires one AGI or preferably human per monitored subject. (That "Real World Naivete" trait can really throw a spanner into works in surveillance operations.) Unless you're not against TITAN technology, in which case you might as well give up. Even Junta rarely stores majority of the public monitoring data for longer than few years due to same reasons as more liberal jurisdictions, though they may hold onto "highlights" like recordings of riots or unstable periods indefinitely. While basically everyone expects there are unknown listeners to any discussions in any public place, there are ways. One of the most popular is "holding hands" and forming an encrypted, hardwired link via skinlinks: Everyone can see they're chatting privately, but intercepting such discussion is extremely hard. Likewise, many people exchange One Time Pads (easily generated by mesh inserts and swapped via skinlink handshake), which allows for basically uncrackable encryption unless compromised via side-channel attacks, rubber-hose cryptanalysis or similar. Only repressive regimes try to interfere with these practices. TEMPEST-screened and Faraday-caged conference rooms are available, many hypercorps maintain their own and their rental is a steady business offered by eg. restaurants where term "Private Cabinet" has developed some new connotations. These places are normally EMP:d and swept with guardian nanoswarms regularly, usually just before use. Of course, reliability and trustworthiness of rental arrangements varies... And a nasty scandal can easily and permanently ruin reputations (or worse). One should also note that legality of these arrangements varies by jurisdiction and some places insist on Big Brother presence. Such screened rooms are usually rather small, stark places which eschew smart furnishings which are easier to corrupt and can easily conceal unpleasant surprises; these are not places where you relax and kick back, these are places where you work, focus and pay attention. Most people have private Muse-managed "inner space" virtualities, tailored to personal taste. Some are entirely private, accessed only by ego and possibly muse, while some are used for private meetings with friends, loved ones and other close persons. Also, while "Virtual Seraglio" and "Digital Harem" may be clichés, anonymous surveys estimate that at least 40% of population has one, archived behind best information security one can manage. In reputable versions characters in such simulspaces are run by owners' muse (acceptable practice), but some people without conscience may buy their digital concubines from Nine Lives (very, very illegal and reprehensible).