[SlowDeck]

Edit: Worded this badly and someone else pointed it out.

Basically, I'm saying that if the GM won't allow the other suggestions and hacking isn't feasible, I gave you a nice Plan B

[Xenon]

It's a pretty well connected organization.
Offices in many major cities.

So... A pretty high rating security host then.
You can't avoid host ratings when breaking the protection of the file
(even if you first abuse a direct connection with a slaved device)
Paydata runs against high rating hosts are never easy....

...it still make little sense why they would make multiple copies of the footage and store it in multiple locations

I still think OP will be able to find the footage stored in a secure file in the host the camera is slaved to
I still think their Decker should have a decent shot at breaching the host and altering the footage
(not unnoticed... and not without taking loads of matrix damage.... but hopefully he will make before his deck is bricked...)

[Kincaid]

Realistically, it's impossible to avoid having data copied nowadays, even in systems that aren't specifically designed for redundancy.  I would think that a wireless Matrix would be the epitome of the LOCKSS (lots of copies keeps stuff safe) concept that exists in digital curation today.  For the sake of game play, the GM might make it a single file you need to locate and edit.

If that doesn't work and I wasn't planning on making this into its own run, I'd probably just have the driver buy a new fake license.  Assuming the old license was on a fake SIN, he should be able to shed the burned license without a problem while keeping the SIN if it's done sooner rather than later.

[Poindexter]

yeah, i dont think altering the file is gonna be an option.
I think its all about changing the truck.

[firebug]

yeah, i dont think altering the file is gonna be an option.
I think its all about changing the truck.

Totally.  But like people have said, a paint job, maybe a tiny bit of body work, and a changed license plate is fine.  Especially if you know for certain that all they got photographic evidence, then all you've got to change is what's visible to the eye.  Buying a new SIN and changing the ownership of the car to that SIN would also likely be enough if you think someone may have gotten some AR information from it (anything information it tells them, like if it had a specific purchase number, would almost certainly be removed before you bought it, and if it isn't a simple Hardware test would be the most required to change it).

Destroying or ditching it isn't very necessary.  Especially because, with the lack of vehicle mods available in 5th edition, it's not like people are gonna be like "Man, two Toyota Gophers with a ramming plate and mechanical arms in three days?  What are the odds?"

[Poindexter]

OK, last question.
Lets assume, for one reason or another, i decide to take no action whatsoever to prevent the offended party from tracking me down. The vehicle is registered to my fake lvl 1 SIN. What must be done to track me down?

[firebug]

OK, last question.
Lets assume, for one reason or another, i decide to take no action whatsoever to prevent the offended party from tracking me down. The vehicle is registered to my fake lvl 1 SIN. What must be done to track me down?

They could take the license plate number or other car details and find which car it is; possibly by going to the manufacturer and checking files to see when it was sold.  If that didn't work (since it wasn't bought legally) then the next step would probably be to just look for it.  With streetlight cameras and security drones that wouldn't require an impossible amount of work.  If they found the car, then they could check which SIN it's registered to.  From there, they could find out where the SIN's owner is currently residing and try to arrest you.

[Poindexter]

OK, last question.
Lets assume, for one reason or another, i decide to take no action whatsoever to prevent the offended party from tracking me down. The vehicle is registered to my fake lvl 1 SIN. What must be done to track me down?

They could take the license plate number or other car details and find which car it is; possibly by going to the manufacturer and checking files to see when it was sold.  If that didn't work (since it wasn't bought legally) then the next step would probably be to just look for it.  With streetlight cameras and security drones that wouldn't require an impossible amount of work.  If they found the car, then they could check which SIN it's registered to.  From there, they could find out where the SIN's owner is currently residing and try to arrest you.

really? hmmmm
I assumed I'd be more screwed than that.
nice to know, assuming there are no dissenting opinions...

[CanRay]

Burned?  Not yet.

But here are the Halloweeners for Cocktail Hour! 

[Xenon]

Realistically, it's impossible to avoid having data copied nowadays ...

A private corporation's security footage is not being copied to a zillion locations... Who told you that?
Would be far to easy for a rival corporation to get hold of sensitive security footage if that was the case.
The more paranoid the corporation, the more control would they want to have of their security footage.

They probably send the information away to a secure central location (in SR5 that would be their security host)
or they might store the data in their camera server (in SR5 that would be a device on premises).
...and in addition to this they might or might not make a hardcopy of the file (maybe once per day or once per week).

[Namikaze]

How things happen exactly is up to your GM.  But if this was my table, I'd say that the team needs to decide between repainting the van and getting a new fake license for it (easiest method), or they should consider finding the evidence and editing or destroying it.   In order to destroy or edit the evidence, the team would need to act very fast - assuming someone took that photo or was monitoring the camera, an organization-wide APB might have been put out.

The easiest thing is to change out the plates, color, and registration chip.  Unfortunately, rules for this haven't been put in yet, so I'd probably fudge something for my players.  Cost would likely be Rating x 200 nuyen for the license/chip.  Paint would be a flat 500.  Plates would probably be another 500, simply because they need to be clean and not reported missing any time soon.  Total cost around 2,000 nuyen.

If your GM is clever, he/she will use this as an opportunity for a security goon to hire the team.  The team does this job for nearly free, and the evidence disappears.

[Kincaid]

Realistically, it's impossible to avoid having data copied nowadays ...

A private corporation's security footage is not being copied to a zillion locations... Who told you that?
Would be far to easy for a rival corporation to get hold of sensitive security footage if that was the case.
The more paranoid the corporation, the more control would they want to have of their security footage.

They probably send the information away to a secure central location (in SR5 that would be their security host)
or they might store the data in their camera server (in SR5 that would be a device on premises).
...and in addition to this they might or might not make a hardcopy of the file (maybe once per day or once per week).

I was referring to how digital curation is handled today, which does involve copying to a number of locations, some actively and some passively.  While magnetic tape isn't used in 2075, I can't believe that digital forensics is a completely dead field.  At the very least, the file would exist on the host (probably for a period of time defined by a moving wall) and there would be a master copy in the essentially-inaccessible archive.  The host copy would exist until the company's disposition schedule says otherwise, but since storage is effectively unlimited in 2075, the archival copy is, for all intents and purposes, permanent.  Specifically, the treatment of the file would depend on whether or not the company followed a life-cycle or a continuum model.  Admittedly, this is probably a more interesting thought exercise for people with degrees in digital archives and records management, but I can tell you with absolutely certainty that companies and organizations for whom security is a top priority copy material much more sensitive than, "last-Thursday's security footage" on a regular basis.  It's done (hopefully) in a controlled fashion, but it's done.

[Xenon]

I was referring to how digital curation is handled today

Me too.
(But with references to what would be used in SR5)

...but I can tell you with absolutely certainty that companies and organizations for whom security is a top priority...

I happen to work at such a company

...on a regular basis.  It's done (hopefully) in a controlled fashion, but it's done.

I am not saying you have all the time in the world to alter the file located in the host.
Eventually (maybe every night or so) the file will be moved to a File Archive.

But hacking in SR5 is pretty quick....
It does not take days to make a hack attempt on a host. It take seconds.
(recovering from the biofeedback might take days, though)
If your shadowrun team notice that the van is caught on camera as you leave the scene your hacker can hack the host and alter the footage long before you reach your safe-house. At least he can make an attempt to do it. With no way of avoiding Host ratings when cracking the file protection the decker will be spotted. Question is rather if he can manage to alter the file before his deck is fried, he is dumped from the matrix and/or his physical location traced.....

[firebug]

Yeah, unless you're a hella good hacker, you risk putting yourself into more danger.  Link-locking, actual death if they have Black IC, and of course overwatch and the GOD, or just a simple Trace Icon action.

[Kincaid]

I was referring to how digital curation is handled today

Me too.
(But with references to what would be used in SR5)

...but I can tell you with absolutely certainty that companies and organizations for whom security is a top priority...

I happen to work at such a company

...on a regular basis.  It's done (hopefully) in a controlled fashion, but it's done.

I am not saying you have all the time in the world to alter the file located in the host.
Eventually (maybe every night or so) the file will be moved to a File Archive.

But hacking in SR5 is pretty quick....
It does not take days to make a hack attempt on a host. It take seconds.
(recovering from the biofeedback might take days, though)
If your shadowrun team notice that the van is caught on camera as you leave the scene your hacker can hack the host and alter the footage long before you reach your safe-house. At least he can make an attempt to do it. With no way of avoiding Host ratings when cracking the file protection the decker will be spotted. Question is rather if he can manage to alter the file before his deck is fried, he is dumped from the matrix and/or his physical location traced.....

Yeah, I'd probably grant the decker a small window of time immediately after the run to try to go back and scrub evidence.  Like you said, even if I give them an hour, the actual Matrix work only takes seconds, so they should be fine assuming the exfil goes smoothly.  I'm with firebug, though.  It all seems more risk than it's worth.

It's the most secure companies that are generally most in need of strong archival policy, largely for legal reasons.  Having worked on the archival side of things for DOD-contracted institutions (paperwork!  more paperwork!), there's obviously a tension between access control and functionality, but I don't think a camera feed is going to occupy the same digital landscape as [spoiler alert] Damien Knight's illegitimate child's address.