The more technology you have, the easier urban tracking is. The first place anyone will look to find you is social media. It provides a plethora of information on who you are, who your friends are, where you've been, and where you might be. Social media is only the first stop for law enforcement officers of the various governmental branches. Your bank accounts will be one the the first things investigated, and warnings will let them know if you try to access them. They will also have full access to public and private security cameras. Law enforcement has access to the Department of Motor vehicles and will know every vehicle you drive, as well as their license plates. Your phone bill and location data will be forfeit. Your friends and family will be scrutinized and your travel patterns will be analyzed.

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If you are trying to evade law enforcement in an urban setting, do not talk to anyone. Keep your circle of trust very small. Say goodbye to your tech and watch out for anything connected to wi-fi, including your tv. You leave digital footprints everywhere. Theresa Payton (former White House CEO) advises that, "scientists have shown that by taking different third party marketing data warehouses and combining them together with census data and public records, they can run algorithms which can accurately take the anonymized data and [place] a person within a zip code with about 70-80% accuracy."

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Don't get comfortable. You will get sloppy. Use cash and don't buy a "burner" phone. A burner phone is a phone that is not associated with you, but often law enforcement will canvas camera activity where these types of phones can be purchased. You have to learn to be totally self sufficient. Every time you make contact it is a point for recognition.

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Jack Shepherd, a fugitive featured on BBC News, has some advice for going on the run. You only have a small window to get out of the area. Do it quickly. Use a small point of exit rather than a majorly traveled access point. Don't go and talk to people first. Change up your patterns immediately. There are cameras everywhere. Once you are spotted, the web spreads. Jack also advises that the stress of evading the police takes its toll. He eventually turned himself in.

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If you do successfully evade law enforcement, having an online presence will be very risky. However, evading the law online has the same perimeters as avoiding being hacked. Create a social media fictional character to interact as. Use a VPN (Virtual Private Network and encryption programs to protect yourself from hacking. VPNs mask your IP address, which makes it difficult for people, like the government, to track where your computer is located. Don't trust cloud based services with sensitive data. Linking accounts is a great way to streamline all of your digital information, it also gives hackers a way to connect the dots.

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The more wanted you are, the better technology the government can deploy to find you. A device called a Stingray can impersonate a cell phone tower. It boosts its signal so the surrounding phones connect to it. Some models even forward incoming and outgoing calls and texts from a legitimate cell tower, and cellphone users will be none the wiser. The FBI, DEA, Secret Service, National Security Agency (NSA), U.S. Marshals Service, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and ATF - as well as the U.S.Army, Navy and Marine Corps, all use Stingrays. Good luck hiding cell calls!

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References:

So You Really Want to Run Away From the Law, Huh? - A Guide to Going on the Run

https://www.esquire.com/lifestyle/how-to/a52699/how-to-go-on-the-run-from-the-law/

Jack Shepherd: Can a fugitive remain on the run forever? - BBC News

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-kent-46823699

13 easy ways to stop being tracked or hacked online - Business Insider

https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-avoid-being-tracked-online-2015-9

How Secret Police Devices Track Your Cellphone | Tom's Guide

https://www.tomsguide.com/us/cellphone-tracker-stingray,news-21718.html