The one-click assistant. The QR code. The collaboration invite. The private channel. The voice that sounds familiar enough. The beta app with a gorgeous interface and a vague privacy policy. These are no longer mere conveniences. They are border crossings.

Public records are often invoked as democracy’s equalizer: the idea that anyone can trace who owns what, who lobbies whom, who donates to whom, and who profits from policy. Yet the contemporary record ecosystem is not designed to be legible to ordinary people operating under ordinary constraints. It is legible to institutions with time, staff, and money.