The people of Maenan barely knew Danny Stephen Webb. The secluded Welsh hamlet is surrounded by woodland. People move there to enjoy a quiet life. Some, like Webb, want complete solitude.

Local Mollie Young would sometimes see him drive past: "I'd see him and wave and he would just look past and blank you". Fellow resident David Meet says: "I wouldn't have known him if I fell over him in the street."

Yet now Webb has become the most famous man in the village. Last week, the FBI swooped in and arrested him. His house sits empty, with clothes hanging from a drying rack and dirty wellies by the door.

Webb was the pseudonymA false name used to protect a person's identity. of Daniel Andreas San Diego, a fugitive for 21 years. He was an American man, on the run for alleged involvement in two bombings in 2003. The FBI describes him as "an animal rights extremist" and a "terroristUsing violence or the threat of violence to create fear among a wide group of people. ". They offered $250,000 (£199,000) for information leading to his arrest.

San Diego was on the FBI's Most Wanted list. This includes a whole host of fugitivesPeople who are running away or hiding from the police or a dangerous situation. who have managed to disappear.

There is Haitian gang leader Vitel'Homme Innocent, who in 2021 took 17 people hostage, including five children. His bountyMoney paid for killing or capturing a person or animal. is $2bn. Colombian drug smuggler Silver Villega-Palomino, who vanished in 2020, is worth $5bn. And Ruja Ignatova, missing since 2017 and with a $5bn award, was involved in cryptocurrency fraud.

Disappearing requires constant vigilance. All it takes is a single slip-up. Neighbours think San Diego was caught because he bought a house, placing his real name on legal documents. 

It also demands incredible devotion. You need to leave everyone and everywhere you have ever known. You need to live without most modern conveniences.

We provide a data footprint every time we use a digital device. A single log-in to a streaming site or credit card transaction can catch you out. Our phones track where we have been. Smart devices like Amazon Alexa record the conversations they overhear. We even track each other with location pins and Find My Friends.

We are also seen more than ever before. There are cameras everywhere. In London, you are likely to be captured on CCTVShort for closed circuit television. Video camera used to monitor areas for security. up to 70 times a day.¹ There is a high chance that you will appear in the background of a phone snapshot or TikTok.

Security expert Brett Lovegrove stars in the reality TV show Hunted, where he tracks down contestants trying to hide. He says: "Within hours we know almost everything about the individual. And, as the days go by, we end up knowing more about them than their friends and family do."

Yet disappearance might still be possible. San Diego was actively being sought. He was in Britain, a densely-populated country where digital transactions are common. If you move somewhere very remote and far from your pursuers, you might get away with it.

Writing on the website Cracked, an anonymousNot associated with an identifiable person. It means "without a name", but has also been used as a name by a group of hackers who launch cyber attacks on people it considers evil. fugitive thinks he remains unfound because of "the system's indifference". If no-one is desperate to find you, you may remain free.

Is it possible to hide today?

Yes: San Diego managed 21 years before he was caught, despite living in the UK, and only slipped up towards the end. Someone with enough cunning could do the same or better.

No: In George Orwell's book 1984, an all-seeing Big Brother watches people's every move. Through digital technology, we have created our own far more powerful version. There is no escape.

Or... It depends on what you are hiding from. If you are an internationally wanted criminal, it might be almost impossible. But if you are simply seeking to vanish from your daily life, it might be easier.