System Identification Number

The foundation of an identity in Savage Cyberpunk is the System Identification Number, or SIN. A SIN is issued to a person at birth, and stays with them (barring exceptional circumstances) for the rest of their life.

Modern society produces a mind-boggling amount of data every second across the world, all of which needs to be stored, tracked, and correlated. A SIN identifies a person within the global information system and every piece of information associated with that person is attached to their SIN.

Issuing a SIN
SINs are issued by a country or extraterratorial corporation (AA or AAA rating) at the time a person becomes a citizen. Typically, this is when a person is born "legally" - at a hospital, clinic, or even at home with the assistance of a licensed midwife. A new SIN will also be issued in the case of a change in citizenship.

The SIN itself is a string of characters generated using some of the person's vital statistics fed into a complex algorithm, guaranteeing that no two SINs will ever be the same. However, this also means that anyone with access to the proper software, like law enforcement agencies or government officials, can know several things about a person just by looking at the person's SIN: their nae, birth date, place of birth, and the nation or corporation that issued the SIN.

A set of biometric data including DNA, retinal scan, and fingerprints will also be taken and logged into the system, associated with the newly-created SIN. All of this information is then registered with two master databases: one maintained by the country or corporation that issued with SIN, and the Global SIN Registry (GSINR) controlled by the Corporate Court. These datastores are among the most secure on the planet, with multiple offline backups for each.

Licenses
A basic SIN generally allows a person to function within the law on an everyday basis. However, if a person wants to operate outside of these strictures, they need special permission in the form of a license. What actions or items require a license vary widely within the governmental systems of the world, but there are some common similarities.

Any item with a Legal code of R requires a license to legally own and operate, and a separate license is required to carry a weapon on the street. Additionally, many professional occupations, from surgeons to plumbers, require special occupational licenses that show that they are qualified to perform the services they offer.

Acquiring a license involves filling out an application, paying some sort of fee, undergoing a SIN check, and possibly passing one or more certification, testing, or training programs.

The SINless
No aspect of modern life can function without a SIN, at least legally. Those who don't have one can't get a legitimate job, rent an apartment, or even buy a bag of soychips. To the system, these people don't exist.

Most SINless are the poorest of the poor, living in urban Downzones, all but forgotten by the rest of the world. Since they don't officially exist, they are easy targets for everything from random street violence to illicit corporate experimentation to organ trafficking.

Fake SINs
For those without the privilege of being born with a SIN, there is very little choice in how they can live. They can either hope to be issued a real SIN after birth (which requires an act of government), live your life without the safety and conveniences of modern civilization (which most choose to do) or get a fake SIN.

Although SIN registry databases are incredibly secure, their very nature requires them to be accessible through the DataNet, which makes them vulnerable. The demand and value of fake SINs is such that many of the shadier organizations of the world, including all major criminal syndicates, make a business of creating fake SINs.

Getting a fake SIN created and registed with all of the proper authorities is a long and arduous process of hacking and data fraud that exploits loopholes and other identified flaws in the system. Generally speaking, the more time that is taken in creatig a false identity, the more believable it becomes. Hastily created SINs might work if someone just wants to buy nachos at the local Stuffer Shack, but it won't hold up to any sort of scrutiny.

The amount of time and care taken in creating a fake SIN is represented by its Rating. A low Rating SIN consists of only the most basic information, such as the SIN number itself. Related information such as biometric data will likely be missing or obviously false if checked. Other issues may be the consistency, or fit, of the identity to the individual. If a runner just needs an identity right now, they may end up purchasing a SIN for an eight-year-old Japanese girl.

Higher Rating fake SINs have been meticulously crafted over time with a great deal of attention to detail. An identity will be chosen that matches the age and nationality of the person purchasing it and will have plausible supporting information such as travel and purchasing history. Biometric data associated with a high-Rating SIN will be from a real person with the sam sex and nationality as the purchaser with matching organic samples available (blood, skin cells, hair, etc.). Just don't ask where they came from.

Verifying a SIN
While having some sort of SIN is mandatory for a person to interact in any way with the "civilized" world, the level to which a SIN is checked and verified varies widely based on the situation and who is doing the checking.

The sophistication of a verification system is represented by its Rating. Less sophisticated systems will perform only the most basic checks, while higher Rating ones will perform a deeper analysis with cross-verification.

In game terms, the verification system makes a roll using the die type associated with its Rating against a Target Number equal to twice the Rating of the SIN. If the roll fails, the system reports no problems. If the TN is reached but not exceeded, the system reports that something seems "odd" with the SIN and will recommend that the operator investigate further. If the TN is exceeded, the system reports the SIN as false and may immediately notify the authorities. At this point, the fake SIN is considered burned.

Burned SINs
When a fake SIN has been checked and found to be false, the SIN verification system notes this immediately. If it is connected to the DataNet, it reports the fake SIN via a special emergency message back to the SIN registry system of the country in which the verification takes place. Any further use of the fake SIN automatically fails and the SIN should be abandoned for good.