Traditional forms of government have remained shaky at best and collapsed outright at worst. The United States still maintains some semblance of democracy, but in the end, the executive, legislative, judicial, and military branches of the government are often mired in lobbyists and kickbacks and corporate ownership of many privatized functions that were formerly administered by the city, state, or federal government. This blur of legal restrictions imposed by city, state, federal, and corporate oversight can make it awfully difficult to be a law-abiding citizen.

When someone wants to see your PIC, it's probably a cop wanting to cross-examine your vehicle information against your license. Your PIC acts as the glue that ties your medical records, criminal records, school records, employment records, driver's licensing, and accounting information together. Legal PICs are distributed and managed by the Department of Records Administration, as are most other records pertaining to a person's identity.

Of course, people who operate 'off the grid' and don't have a PIC can't hold a job, rent an apartment, or do any of a number of other things law-abiding citizens would, let alone prove that you are a legitimate citizen of the country. Most people get around this by purchasing a fake PIC - often complete with history and records - to conduct business under.