The Privacy, Security, and OSINT Show 266 - The Sole Proprietorship
Primer: Michael Bazzell spent 18 years as a government computer crime investigator. He shares his Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) insights on his website IntelTechniques. In this episode of the OSINT show, he shares about how Sole Proprietorships are used for one of his clients that requires privacy in a rental home, the issues surrounding it, and how he resolves them.
Background Of Episode
Assisted a client moving to a safe house
Moved the family to a rental
Is able to keep the family’s names off the record
The largest hurdle was the power company — they want to know who’s living in the house, who owns the LLC, etc.
The power company then sells this info to third parties
Will be introducing the Sole Proprietorship to solve this issue
Sole Proprietorship
A simple unincorporated business owned and ran by one individual with no distinction between the business and the owner
Allows you to get an EIN from the IRS
The EIN enables you to open a bank account that you can give out to customers. This way, you do not need to give out your social security number
When you file with the IRS, make sure to put on the form DBA (doing business as) followed by the name of your business. This action does not create any new tax liabilities
Main benefits of a Sole Proprietorship is that it prevents some disclosure of your personal information, social security number, etc.
Why Not LLC Or A Trust?
This particular state requires the LLC to disclose the details of its members
Out of state LLC does not work in this case
This particular state’s Foreign LLC requirements requires LLCs that’s completely anonymous to give the state all the information about the LLC, which removes all of the privacy measures
If you use a trust, they require the trustee and all the beneficiaries of the trust
Response From The Power Company
Received the EIN documentation from the IRS
The documentation shows your name and the business name
Redacted the name with white bars. Some entry level employees looking at the document may not even notice the missing info on the form
He was asked about the client name. He responded that he does not want them to have that information as they will sell it to data mining companies
He was asked who’s currently living in the house. The house is currently vacant
He was asked about the credit history with this EIN. They created a business checking account for the sole proprietorship and showed the power company that they have funds to pay
General Guidance On Sole Proprietorships
Keep the name generic
Have to follow the guidance for sole proprietorship in the state you are in
Important point: his clients is never going to use the sole proprietorship for income/business purposes
Better to be proactive in creating a sole proprietorship than reactive/creating it when you need it. The latter gets more scrutiny
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