In this age of pervasive surveillance, the need for vigilance among Kindred has never been more critical. The evolution of government tracking, from Napoleon’s IDs in 1803 to the modern ESCHELON surveillance system, reveals the growing extent of monitoring capabilities that threaten Kindred anonymity. With advancements like FIRSTLIGHT funding updates and the TSA’s facial scanning programs, it’s clear that a surveillance state is becoming inevitable. The Kindred must recognize this and adapt to ensure their survival within the world of Darkness Emergent.

 

The response to the Second Inquisition—going offline and using burner phones—was only a temporary measure. Now, proactive steps must be taken to safeguard our existence. In the grand narrative of Vampire the Masquerade, this faction naturally aligns with the Nosferatu clan, who have always been masters of information, stealth, and subterfuge. Their expertise in navigating the shadows and manipulating data makes them indispensable in this new era of surveillance. The Ventrue clan, with their connections to power and resources, also finds a place in this faction, using their influence to manipulate surveillance systems to their advantage.

 

As technology advances and the threat of a surveillance state looms ever larger, this faction urges all Kindred to stay ahead of the curve, to be the ones controlling the narrative rather than falling victim to it. The future of Kindred society depends on our ability to adapt and thrive in this new world, where every move is watched, and every secret is at risk of exposure.

The Digital Collective

I bet you thought getting rid of your phone meant you were off the grid. Little do most of us know that each and every one of us has a digital twin out there, birthed years ago in some data center. It’s a collection of your browsing history, your location data, and your financial habits. It knows who you read, the company you keep, and what you buy. It lives and moves through this world, existing without a pulse, consuming and growing on bits of data just as hungrily as we kindred feed upon the living. And just like us, it never dies. Technology is reality. SchreckNet may have been a failed attempt at a masquerade-safe network undermined by hubris, but the real hubris is thinking we can turn our backs as the digital revolution continues unchecked. How long will it be before Kindred habits can be algorithmically decoded and identified by AI? I heard the other day FIRSTLIGHT is working on a beta for that right now. I bet you’re really sweating all those katanas and Ray-Bans you bought back in the 90’s. The Digital Collective aims to stay one step ahead of any technology that would threaten Kindred society. We work to develop Masquerade preserving tools and protocol, allowing for rapid containment of most local-level incidents before they go viral. As technology regulations can vary between sects and domains, we work mostly independently, and take efforts to safeguard our identities. How San Antonio Played Out It’s not easy to find the Digital Collective. The group is known to never meet in-person, and its members don’t advertise or recruit. However, word had spread among tech circles that they could be found in San Antonio on a particular weekend, and a select few managed to find their meeting place. Once assembled, a package arrived from a group called The Elites. The group had been working on a new tech platform that could help preserve the Masquerade, and they needed beta testers.  The Elites provided the group with three prototype phones equipped with their new Masquerade platform, Mercury. The collective was given an extensive FAQ and number to call if they observed any Masquerade issues, with rewards promised if they could observe 3 potential incidents. Early in the evening, the gathering was notified of a potential FIRSTLIGHT issue, and a group went off in pursuit. The collective followed, and was able to prevent any Masquerade issues that arose, soon meeting their quota. At the end of the night, an additional unforeseen Masquerade issue was identified. The collective called the number, however, the operator announced that following the successful beta test, they had transitioned to a paid services model. Preserving the Masquerade can prove costly! Ultimately, a sum of the new Anarch cryptocurrency FangCoin was transferred, and the issue was resolved.

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Chicago – The Digital Collective

Governments have always wanted to keep tabs on their people; they just lacked the means to do so. Napoleon issued what became the first government IDs back in 1803, and the concept soon spread to other nations. Later in 1936, the US government issued its first Social Security cards, which actually said, “NOT FOR IDENTIFICATION”. That didn’t last very long, and now the kine can’t hold a job without one. ESCHELON has been around since the ‘60s, its existence verified in numerous leaks, congressional hearings, and even by Snowden in 2015. Once FIRSTLIGHT got its first piece of funding, updating the codeword scrubbers to look for words like, “Camarilla” and “Primogen” probably took less than a few minutes. Just last year, the TSA introduced a pilot program for facial scanning for airline passengers. How much longer do you think it’s going to be “optional”? Think about it for a minute: in a world moving closer and closer to a surveillance state, can we as kindred continue to ignore the march of technology? We’ve already had one brush with death. When the Second Inquisition came, all the higher ups could think of was to put their heads in the sand. Admittedly, keeping sensitive conversations offline and switching to burners was good OPSEC, but we should have done it three decades ago. Now it’s bought us a few years at most. 

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