=Scanning, Tracking, and Monitoring= 
Most users leave traces of their physical and digital presence all throughout the mesh. Accounts they access, devices with which they interact, services they use, entoptics they perceive—all of these keep logs of the event, and some of these records are public. Simply passing nearby some devices is enough to leave a trail, as near-field radio interactions are often logged. This electronic datatrail can be used to track a user, both to ascertain their physical location or to note their online activities.
==Wireless Scanning== 
To interface with a wireless device or network, whether to establish a connection or for other purposes, the target device/network must be located first. To locate an active node, it’s wireless radio transmissions must be detected. Most wireless devices automatically scan for other devices in range (see<span style="background-color: #ffffff;"> [[Gear#Meshed%20Gear-Radio%20and%20Sensor%20Ranges|Radio and Sensor Ranges]]</span>) as a matter of course, so no test is required. This means that it’s trivial for any character to pull up a list of the wireless devices and networks around them, along with associated mesh IDs. Likewise, a muse or device can be instructed to alert the user when a new signal (or a specific user) comes into range.
Detecting stealth signals, however, is a bit more challenging. To detect a stealthed signal, the scanning party must actively search for such signals, taking a Complex Action and making an Interfacing Test with a –30 modifier. If successful, they detect the hidden emissions. If the character aiming for stealth engages in active countermeasures, also requiring a Complex Action, then an Opposed [[Interfacing]] Test is called for (with the –30 modifier still applying to the scanning party).
For covert devices that are only transmitting in short bursts, wireless detection is only possible during the short period the burst transmission is being made.
==Physical Tracking== 
Many users willingly allow themselves to be physically tracked via the mesh. To them, this is a useful feature— it allows their friends to find them, their loved ones to know where they are, and for authorities to come to their aid in the event of some emergency. Finding their location is simply a matter of looking them up in the local directory, no test required (assuming you know who they are). Mesh positioning is accurate to within 5 meters. Once located, the position of the target can be monitored as they move as long as they maintain an active wireless connection to the mesh.
==Tracking by Mesh ID== 
An unknown user’s physical location can also be tracked via their online mesh activity—or more specifically, by their mesh ID. Network security will often trace intruders this way and then dispatch security squads to bring them in. To track an unknown user by their mesh ID alone requires a Research Test. If successful, they have been tracked to their current physical location (if still online) or last point of interaction with the mesh. If the character is in privacy mode, a –30 modifier applies.
==Tracking by Biometrics== 
Given the existence of so many spimes and public cameras and sensors, people may also be tracked by their facial profile alone using facial recognition software. This software scans accessible video feeds and attempts to match it to a photo of the target. Given the sheer volume of cameras, however, and the typical range of false-positives and false-negatives, finding the target often boils down to luck. Priority can be given to cameras monitoring major thoroughfares, to narrow the search, but this risks missing the target if they avoid heavy traffic areas. The success of searches of this nature is best left to gamemaster fiat, but a Research Test can also be called for, modified appropriately by the range of the area being watched, whenever there is a chance the target may be spotted.
Other biometric signatures may also be used for tracking this way, though these are usually less available than cameras: thermal signatures (requires infrared cameras), walking gait, scent (requires olfactory sensors), DNA (requires DNA scanners), etc. Each biometric scan requires a separate type of software.
==Digital Activity Tracking== 
Tracking someone’s online activities (meshbrowsing, entoptic interactions, use of services, messaging, etc.) is slightly more difficult, depending on what exactly you’re after. Gathering information on a user’s public mesh activities—social network profiles, public forums posts, public lifelogging, etc.—is handled just like standard online research.
===Tracking by Mesh ID=== 
A more investigate search can attempt to use the target’s mesh ID (p. 246), using it as a sort of digital fingerprint to look up where else they’ve been online. This primarily involves checking access/transaction logs, which are not always publicly accessible. This sort of search requires a Research Test, handled as a Task Action with a timeframe of 1 hour.
==Sniffing== 
Wireless radio traffic is broadcast through the air (or space), meaning that it can be intercepted by other wireless devices. “Sniffing” involves the capture and analysis of data traffic flowing through the wireless mesh. To eavesdrop on wireless communications, you need a sniffer program and you must be within radio range of the target (alternately, you can access a device that is within radio range of the target, and sniff from that location). To capture the information you must succeed in an [[Infosec]] Test. If successful, you capture data traffic from any targeted devices in range. Note that sniffing does not work on encrypted traffic (including VPNs and anything else using public key cryptography) as the results are gibberish. Quantum encrypted communications cannot be sniffed. Once you have the data, finding the information you’re looking for can be a challenge. Handle this as a standard Research Test.
===Remote Sniffing via Mesh ID=== 
Finally, a mesh ID may also be actively monitored to see what mesh activity it engages in. This requires special sniffer software and a Research Test. If successful, the monitoring will provide information on that user’s public mesh activities (how much is determined by the gamemaster and the MoS), such as which sites they access, who they message, etc. It will not, however, uncover anything that is encrypted (unless the encryption is broken) or anything that takes place on a VPN (unless the VPN is hacked first), though it will show that encrypted communications and/or VPN use are taking place.

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