Dan typed in the address of a suppressed academic archive—a site that had been "lost" in a regulatory blackout three years ago. He hit enter.

The archive loaded instantly, crisp and clear. But something else loaded too. A sidebar appeared, filled not with files, but with names. People. Real identities of the brokers who had sold his data last month. Then, a live chat window popped up. One message:

"You are on the mustakim. Do not deviate. Do not click ads. Do not accept cookies. You have one hour."