One of my colleagues was sent on a mission by our paper three years ago. It was a busy summer Friday with several conventions in town, a couple cruise ships docked, and it was the height of tourist season so there were an extra hundred thousand plus people milling about.

He began walking at the south side of downtown Seattle and walked all over downtown to end up on the North side about 6 hours later.

Throughout the day he would stop in a restaurant or shop and change into a different disguise, all left by one of about 20 of us.

He utilized wigs, glasses, obese padding, bandaids on the face, makeup, and even dressed like a woman a couple of times. He hopped on and off busses, and took a cab once.

The editor then went to the authorities and brought a photo of his normal look to see how well the surveillance was.

He was tracked the entire time. Even through the disguises the machines picked up on his bone structure and gait.