[psycho835]

A driving around with a legal SIN up for anything remotely related to the Run is suicide.

Did I say I was driving around displaying my legal SIN while outrunning a police car?
The Scooter gets you to meets.  It gets you around town doing what you do the other 5 days a week when you are not "On a Run".
Heck, it can even get you to someplace close to a target & then walk in from there, `a la "Night on the Town" story.

Otherwise save the 3k for either a back up SIN (which you will need), better/more gear, or to be saved for an actual vehicle with cargo space.

We'll just have to agree to disagree.  I'm not a fan of not having transportation & a SIN-1 wasn't going to get me anything on our first run.

I thought that driving around without broadcasting SIN (and, presumably, driving license) gets you pulled over. How do you stay incognito until it's time to take off the balaclava and reveal that pink mohawk?

[SichoPhiend]

I thought that driving around without broadcasting SIN (and, presumably, driving license) gets you pulled over. How do you stay incognito until it's time to take off the balaclava and reveal that pink mohawk?

Depends on where your driving, not all neighborhoods require you to broadcast your SIN, the higher the class of neighborhood, the more likely this is the case.  So if your Johnson is meeting you in a low class dive bar and is sending you into the Barrens for a job, you're probably good.  But if he's meeting you at a high class restaurant and asking you to go to a triple A neighborhood... I wish you luck, without broadcasting a SIN, you may not even get to the meet without drawing the kind of attention that the Johnson doesn't want; the neighborhood part however...

[psycho835]

Ok, I will specify - how do you stay incognito in area with security similiar to a modern day city? Half-wild areas don't count.

[SichoPhiend]

Ok, I will specify - how do you stay incognito in area with security similiar to a modern day city? Half-wild areas don't count.

Wow, that is a loaded question...

I'm sure that no matter how many ideas I come up with (Which in all honesty is not many), others will come up with more.

Personally I find that the best way to stay incognito, is to dress for the location and broadcast a fake SIN (If such is required).  If you look like you belong then people ignore you more readily, if you broadcast your SIN (Where required) then a roving drone probably won't even look at you twice.  Depending on what you're doing, incognito doesn't necessarily mean you want to leave no digital trace, sometimes that's what will get you caught. 
Having several fake SIN's is beneficial too, just so you can have one or two without firearms licenses that might draw unwanted attention.  It's also useful to have multiple SIN's so you can change them up as you travel, makes it a bear to track you digitally.

Improved invisibility spell if available combined with a good awareness of your environment can get you pretty far as well, just need to be sure to not wonder into an area with non-sight based sensors that might detect you anyways.

Drive a car with extraterritoriality rights, the cops typically don't want the backlash associated with stopping such a car without cause.

Efficient use of crowds, if in a densely packed crowd, sure the drone will know there are 20 people but only 19 SIN's, but it may not be able to tell who isn't broadcasting quickly enough.  Get through the area before the cops gets boots on the ground to sort out the discrepancy and you're probably good.

Hopefully this gives you some good ideas to run with, I'm sure there will be more ideas to follow, just not from me as I really should be studying for a final right now.

[Tarislar]

how do you stay incognito in area with security similiar to a modern day city?

Can you be a bit more specific?
I'll try to provide my thoughts on when what I did is or is not a problem as I saw it.

Times when you actually HAVE/NEED to be broadcasting a SIN, any SIN.
1.  Driving in a Major Metro Area.
2.  Foot Traffic that goes through some kind of checkpoint/station.  (Bus Station, Police Checkpoint, Major Corp Building).
3.  When asked to by someone of authority.

Outside of those situations your not displaying your SIN, just like I'm not flashing my Drivers License or Social Security Card everywhere I go like a name tag on my shirt.
Sure you'll need it for actual purchases or logging onto the Matrix but not walking down central avenue or at every doorway to every building.
  (I'm not a fan of the idea that you need one for Potato Chips either, but w/e, that's how its written)

So when are those possibly a problem for Runners?
1.  Well, obviously, the Get Away in down town Seattle is going to be an issue.  Even recon around a high profile target might be tricky.
Neither of which is something that I would be doing much of.  The group as a whole did have one get away but we were on foot for the first part of it & went through some big buildings coming out on the other side of them & then having Invis & Concealment cover to limit our exposure till we got to our bikes.

2.  Infiltrating a large public event where your doing to do something illegal could be a problem.  You can blend in public but if it requires being "legal" on the way in & then blowing that cover then clearly a Fake SIN would be needed for that situation.  But its not the norm for most runs.
The only time I came close to this type of scenario was in Rally Cry where I walked right through a police blockade with my real SIN displayed.  But I wasn't lugging a Rifle with me or in combat armor.  When the Riot broke out, I invised & disappeared in the crowd of thousands.

[Herr Brackhaus]

Outside of those situations your not displaying your SIN, just like I'm not flashing my Drivers License or Social Security Card everywhere I go like a name tag on my shirt.
Sure you'll need it for actual purchases or logging onto the Matrix but not walking down central avenue or at every doorway to every building.
  (I'm not a fan of the idea that you need one for Potato Chips either, but w/e, that's how its written)

That might be your opinion, but that is not at all how the core book describes the pure invasive nature of Big Brother in the Shadowrun setting.

Modern society in 2075 produces a staggering amount of information every second of every day: where you are, what you buy, and what you do. With the system producing all of these pieces of information, there needs to be an easy way to store, track, and correlate it. All of that information needs to be associated with a person somehow. That’s where the SIN comes in. A SIN is issued to a person a birth, and stays with them (baring exceptional circumstances) for the rest of their life. A SIN identifies a person in the global information system and is attached to every piece of information associated with them in the Matrix. No aspect of modern or legal life can function without a SIN. Those who don’t have one can’t get a job, can’t buy food, can’t even walk down the street. To the system, these people don’t exist.

The question isn't so much "when do I need to broadcast a SIN" as it is "what is my GMs perception of the setting". Some might say that only in an A-rated neighborhood is broadcasting a SIN necessary, while others might require broadcasting a SIN near constantly or risk getting picked up by random patrols.

[Senko]

Best way to think of it in my opinion is a world that's involved to have a much lower level concern about having one ubiquitous identifying ID. For example the local shopping mall has dozens of security cameras scattered about monitoring the area, the nearby video store has CCTV monitoring, the train station has security cameras, most stores have security cameras. In the shadowrun world those surveillance devices are also going to be checking your Sin. So you walk down the main street the camera on a nearby store is going to see you, check you for a Sin and then do one of two things.

1) Look up that SIN and send a little blast of targeted advertising "Mr McCormick last year you took a holiday to the Teial ski resort we are currently offering a special deal. . .. "

2) If it sees no SIN store your image and details as well as keep monitoring you while your closely because you have no SIN and thus are scum and potentially could be planning to graffiti the store.

Sure there are going to be areas with no or few cameras low rating zones, abandoned areas that have fallen into disrepair but any built up area is going to be scanning and checking sins 24/7 anywhere today you'd see a security camera it's checking for your details. As for potato chips the reason for that is credsticks while common aren't the preferred method of commerce in most areas. Think cash vs credit card. I can walk into a travel agents and slap down an envelope containing 10k to pay for a holiday because it costs less without various charges or i can walk in and swipe my credit card. The credit card is the Sin method of payment and just like today even snack vending machines are getting credit card slots so you can pay with them so too would you have the option to pay with a sin.

It's not so much required but it is the standard method to pay for most people.

[psycho835]

Outside of those situations your not displaying your SIN, just like I'm not flashing my Drivers License or Social Security Card everywhere I go like a name tag on my shirt.
Sure you'll need it for actual purchases or logging onto the Matrix but not walking down central avenue or at every doorway to every building.
  (I'm not a fan of the idea that you need one for Potato Chips either, but w/e, that's how its written)

That might be your opinion, but that is not at all how the core book describes the pure invasive nature of Big Brother in the Shadowrun setting.

Modern society in 2075 produces a staggering amount of information every second of every day: where you are, what you buy, and what you do. With the system producing all of these pieces of information, there needs to be an easy way to store, track, and correlate it. All of that information needs to be associated with a person somehow. That’s where the SIN comes in. A SIN is issued to a person a birth, and stays with them (baring exceptional circumstances) for the rest of their life. A SIN identifies a person in the global information system and is attached to every piece of information associated with them in the Matrix. No aspect of modern or legal life can function without a SIN. Those who don’t have one can’t get a job, can’t buy food, can’t even walk down the street. To the system, these people don’t exist.

The question isn't so much "when do I need to broadcast a SIN" as it is "what is my GMs perception of the setting". Some might say that only in an A-rated neighborhood is broadcasting a SIN necessary, while others might require broadcasting a SIN near constantly or risk getting picked up by random patrols.

What he said.
As for a situation? While on the job in, say, Tacoma, Murphy's law kicks in, you need to bail. Cops give chase, but you manage to get away. Then they check the camera footage from the location of the botched run, they see how you arrive, do whatever and run like hell. Now, during the getaway, with authorities in hot pursuit, there's obviously no need to broadcast your SIN. But what about arrival? Driving without SIN in such area is like screaming "HEY, LOOK AT ME!" to the authorities, something that you really can't afford to do, at least at this stage. But the only SIN you have is your real one. You broadcast it, cameras will pick it up. Cue KE kicking down your door.

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

I would typically say you'd get arrested in a neighborhood rated A or higher, get hassled in a B, get stopped in a C if you're looking suspicious, and have an eye kept on you in a D.  Anything lower ... they don't care, I tend to feel.  But that's just me.

[Senko]

Ala Rambo. Ex war vet, decorated hero, hassled by the police and run out of their town for being a drifter while trying to do a favour for a dead friend.

[Tarislar]

Best way to think of it in my opinion is a world that's involved to have a much lower level concern about having one ubiquitous identifying ID. For example the local shopping mall has dozens of security cameras scattered about monitoring the area, the nearby video store has CCTV monitoring, the train station has security cameras, most stores have security cameras. In the shadowrun world those surveillance devices are also going to be checking your Sin. So you walk down the main street the camera on a nearby store is going to see you, check you for a Sin and then do one of two things.

1) Look up that SIN and send a little blast of targeted advertising "Mr McCormick last year you took a holiday to the Teial ski resort we are currently offering a special deal. . .. "

2) If it sees no SIN store your image and details as well as keep monitoring you while your closely because you have no SIN and thus are scum and potentially could be planning to graffiti the store.

Sure there are going to be areas with no or few cameras low rating zones, abandoned areas that have fallen into disrepair but any built up area is going to be scanning and checking sins 24/7 anywhere today you'd see a security camera it's checking for your details. As for potato chips the reason for that is credsticks while common aren't the preferred method of commerce in most areas. Think cash vs credit card. I can walk into a travel agents and slap down an envelope containing 10k to pay for a holiday because it costs less without various charges or i can walk in and swipe my credit card. The credit card is the Sin method of payment and just like today even snack vending machines are getting credit card slots so you can pay with them so too would you have the option to pay with a sin.

It's not so much required but it is the standard method to pay for most people.

There is just a couple problems I see with this.

1.  Last I checked SIN readers are a type of sensor & are NOT loaded into every CCTV camera known to man.
2.  If every CCTV camera had the ability to run a SIN check on you then you would literally NEVER get away.  And yet... they do.
3.  Having enough people to monitor every person that walks down the street would require a MASSIVE sized police force.  I live in a city of millions with a ratio of over 500 people to every police officer.  How much larger a police force do you think is required to be able to actively monitor Citizen Joe every minute of his day to be able to track him down at a moments notice.  At what point does the economy collapse from maintaining the kind of force needed to actively devote that many people.
4.  I'm not really up on all the Decking stuff, but, what happens if a person leaves home w/o their commlink?  Does that mean they are harassed all day by this massive police force just getting to & from work?  When they shut off their phone to go into a movie theater & their PAN goes down are they suddenly stopped when they walk out of the theater?
5.  There is even a published SR adventure called Rally Cry that I played in last year.  One of the key things I remember about it is that KE when deployed to cover a pair of public rallies that could turn into a riot was broadcasting to all citizens to please actively display their SIN & any gun license.  This would seem to imply that they are NOT actively broadcasting that message every other time & that deploying to cover a big public rally was an exception to the rule.
6.  I'm not convinced that not walking around w/o a PAN turned on & broadcasting a SIN means you can't go 100 ft w/o being stopped by the police.

PS.  There is still Cash in 2070, its just less common.  I'd say Certified Credsticks are more like a Pre-Paid Visa Gift Card actually.

[Tarislar]

I would typically say you'd get arrested in a neighborhood rated A or higher, get hassled in a B, get stopped in a C if you're looking suspicious, and have an eye kept on you in a D.  Anything lower ... they don't care, I tend to feel.  But that's just me.

Arrested?  For not displaying a SIN?  I have to disagree. 
Questioned maybe.  And in a B or Lower area I don't think you'd even get questioned.
Where does it say its a crime not to actively broadcast one?  Have one to do a lot of stuff, sure, but I'm not seeing anything where the police stand around all day questioning every person that doesn't have a PAN/Persona/Icon displayed.

[BetaCAV]

I would typically say you'd get arrested in a neighborhood rated A or higher, get hassled in a B, get stopped in a C if you're looking suspicious, and have an eye kept on you in a D.  Anything lower ... they don't care, I tend to feel.  But that's just me.

Arrested?  For not displaying a SIN?  I have to disagree. 
Questioned maybe.  And in a B or Lower area I don't think you'd even get questioned.

Unless you're "walking while tusked" in a Lone Star contract zone, where higher ratings are not your friend. Admittedly, that's a separate offense, and there are "wrong neighborhoods" for any/every metatype.

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

I would typically say you'd get arrested in a neighborhood rated A or higher, get hassled in a B, get stopped in a C if you're looking suspicious, and have an eye kept on you in a D.  Anything lower ... they don't care, I tend to feel.  But that's just me.

Arrested?  For not displaying a SIN?  I have to disagree. 
Questioned maybe.  And in a B or Lower area I don't think you'd even get questioned.
Where does it say its a crime not to actively broadcast one?  Have one to do a lot of stuff, sure, but I'm not seeing anything where the police stand around all day questioning every person that doesn't have a PAN/Persona/Icon displayed.

Disagree all you want, but since 'not broadcasting a SIN' can lead to you getting shot - according to fluff, though I'll confess I don't remember which one it was right off the top of my head - I think 'getting arrested' would definitely be a lesser danger for most people.  And in answer to your B, leaving without your commlink would be like leaving without your car-keys - and for a SINner, in most cases it's literally equivalent, because your car's recognition systems won't allow it to go anywhere without your commlink.  Hell, your household system might remind you when you go into the foyer to head out that you don't have your commlink on you.

Also, understand that while the cop:potential perp (i.e. citizen) ratio likely remains the same in the Sixth World, automation is a lot heavier.  Right now, they're looking at having cop cars' forward camera systems and the computers inside automatically scan ALL license plates and uploading that information to a national tracking database, so that they can sooner pinpoint stolen vehicles, Amber Alerts, and other similar things.  Take that, and simply switch 'license plate' for 'SIN', and expand it from 'cop car' to 'traffic system'.  Sure, you can get lost in a crowd, but if a camera is seeing 'moving body' but not seeing 'broadcast SIN', it sends an alert.  Whether that alert gets acted upon is up to the GM out of game, and in-game it depends on the enforcement rating (AAA-Z), whether the cops are busy somewhere else, if the recognition program has picked up profiles of known weapons, etc. etc.  In 'Rally Cry', KE specifically stated that for legal reasons, and so that their smartlinks could help them key in on who to shoot - not that you should take them saying so that the default is that people don't / shouldn't be broadcasting their SINs.

[psycho835]

Disagree all you want, but since 'not broadcasting a SIN' can lead to you getting shot

Whoa, that's kind of extreme. Are you sure that "not broadcasting SIN" was the poor slot's only offense? He wasn't waving a gun, tresspassing on corp property or anything like that?