Watch Dogs: Legion characters have permadeath
Going full-on assault comes more risks than ever before. If your current DedSec operative dies, they’re gone for good. Though, it seems like the game will give you ample opportunities to prevent that. This isn’t confirmed, but by watching the demos, you can choose to be arrested the first time you go down. If you want to keep fighting you can get back up, but dying after that seems to be permanent.
So, you get once chance to give up without losing the operative you’ve powered hours of upgrading and emotional attachment into.