The UK has one CCTV camera for every 14 people – and that’s just the beginning. Fingerprinting and facial recognition technologies are now found on everyday items, including our phones. This week, Tim investigates how people manage to disappear in a world where we're being recorded in increasingly advanced ways, and is joined by Clive Reedman, a leading expert in biometrics, and Renate Samson, Chief Executive of Big Brother Watch. They discuss the possibilities – and repercussions – of trying to hide in a world where cameras know your face.

Episode 04: You’re Being Watched

MISSING is an award-winning podcast series, selected as one of iTunes' Best Podcasts of 2015.  

Hosted by best-selling crime writer Tim Weaver, the show investigates the world of missing people – who disappears, why they disappear, the pressures of life on the run, and who tracks them down – and charts the progression of a missing persons search. We follow Tim as he meets with leading experts from the worlds of investigation, surveillance, data, forensics, psychology, and technology. Each week on MISSING, he challenges them – and himself – with the ultimate question: is it really possible to disappear? 

New episodes are released on Thursday mornings. MISSING is a production of Kindred and Penguin Books.

News

In this special two-part conclusion to MISSING, Tim Weaver continues his life as one of the disappeared. Four days after he walked out the front door, the tension of life off the grid is mounting. What’s life like without human contact, no technology, and the pressure of being pursued? Plus: when the adventure ends, Tim discusses his experience – including all the surveillance he never saw - with Renate Samson, Chief Executive of Big Brother Watch.

Episode 11: On the Run - Part 2

In this special two-part conclusion to MISSING, Tim Weaver puts everything he’s learned to the test. He walks out the front door – not telling his family or his friends where he's going – and sees how long he can make it on the road and off the grid. With no phone, no computer, no contacts and under constant pressure of being found by a team of search experts, Tim has to deal with the practical and emotional challenges of life as one of the disappeared.

Episode 10: On The Run – Part 1

One year on, Tim Weaver returns to MISSING and discusses how the lessons he learned from the show’s guests influenced his new book, BROKEN HEART. Tim’s joined by broadcaster Michael Carlson and discusses writing about and researching missing people, as well as the disturbing real-life cases that prove how truth is stranger than fiction.

Episode 09: Lessons Learned

In the podcast's final episode, Tim returns to Quinn Norton and Frank M. Ahearn, both of whom have first-hand experience of watching people disappear. What exactly would people need to do in order to vanish? Is it a matter of determination, technical skill, deceit, or blind luck? What’s the balance between creating a new life and burying the old one? With their help, Tim sifts through the final evidence before asking, in the 21st century, is it really possible for someone to disappear?

Episode 08: Disappearing

Only 1% of people that go missing stay disappeared for longer than a year. Who continues looking for them, and how? Tim rejoins the Missing Person Bureau’s Sherri McAra and Dr Karen Shalev Greene from Centre for the Study of Missing Persons, and discusses what happens when a case goes cold. And how far would you go if a loved one went missing? Tim meets with noted clairvoyant Camilla Ventham Fraser, to explore the more unconventional paths a missing persons search can take.

Episode 04: You’re Being Watched

Download our free app to listen on your phone