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How Do I Prepare My Phone for a Protest?

Technology
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  • Shared here for public benefit.

    Before going to a protest, demonstrators or observers should note that their cellphones may subject them to surveillance tactics by law enforcement. If your cellphone is on and unsecured, your location can be tracked and your unencrypted communications, such as SMS, may be intercepted. Additionally, police may retrieve your messages and the content of your phone if they take custody of your phone, or later by warrant or subpoena.

    Some very cheap phones with minutes included, here:

    OTOH they can probably be traced back to you since you have to order them with your presumably real name. You can buy phones and prepaid cards anonymously in phone stores but it will cost more.

  • thats my plan. im not taking wallet or keys or anything. just a transit card.

    Having an ID can help if you do get arrested. But that's about all I carry.

  • Shared here for public benefit.

    Before going to a protest, demonstrators or observers should note that their cellphones may subject them to surveillance tactics by law enforcement. If your cellphone is on and unsecured, your location can be tracked and your unencrypted communications, such as SMS, may be intercepted. Additionally, police may retrieve your messages and the content of your phone if they take custody of your phone, or later by warrant or subpoena.

    Buy a feature phone in cash at a Dollar General as far away from home as you can feasibly get. Do not interact with any other business in the area. Just buy the phone and leave. Activate it at a public library. Add no contacts. Tell no one that it exists.

  • Shared here for public benefit.

    Before going to a protest, demonstrators or observers should note that their cellphones may subject them to surveillance tactics by law enforcement. If your cellphone is on and unsecured, your location can be tracked and your unencrypted communications, such as SMS, may be intercepted. Additionally, police may retrieve your messages and the content of your phone if they take custody of your phone, or later by warrant or subpoena.

    Burner phone ... leave your main one at home ... ABSOLUTELY DO NOT BRING YOUR MAIN PHONE

    Set up your burner phone with one or two accounts to things you might want to upload to ... encrypt as much as you can. Do not load all your social accounts ... only log into the bare minimum. If you are organized, log into temporary or fake or secondary accounts if you can.

    Start the day without any prior history, photos or content on the phone and keep as few contacts as you can ... memorize numbers that are important to you.

    Always be prepared to give up or lose your phone.

    And as always ... SAFETY GLASSES .... bring a pair of industry rated CSA approved safety glasses (try to get a pair with a tint so you can pass them as sunglasses). Look for safety glasses with anything marked ANSI Z87+, sometimes written Z87.1+ (note the plus) rated or CSA Z94.3 rated are ensured to safely withstand a direct high energy strike.

    .... additional things if you want to do more

    Bring a small new blank paper note book you can keep in a pocket with a small pen or pencil ... you might be taking notes like license plates, name tags or names of people or places ... its always faster to just write something down than in taking a shaky photo or tapping away a note on an app

    Wear a big scarf ... for guys or girls ... a scarf comes in handy for all kinds of emergencies including using it as something to cover your mouth, dress a wound, tie something or cover something up.

    Wear a good pair of running shoes ... be prepared to run and be on your feet all day.

    Bring a small backpack and bring a couple bottles of water and some energy bars ... keep it light because you'll be on your feet all day and if things go bad, you might be targeted if you have a large pack ... plus an empty pack can be used to carry things later if you need to.

    Dress for the weather ... if its going to be hot, wear light clothing but if things go bad and you have to stay out over night or longer, bring a light jacket ... if rain is forecast within a day or two, bring a small poncho

  • Literally clicked to comment this

  • Some very cheap phones with minutes included, here:

    OTOH they can probably be traced back to you since you have to order them with your presumably real name. You can buy phones and prepaid cards anonymously in phone stores but it will cost more.

    OTOH they can probably be traced

    Well, they are called TracFone 🙃

  • Shared here for public benefit.

    Before going to a protest, demonstrators or observers should note that their cellphones may subject them to surveillance tactics by law enforcement. If your cellphone is on and unsecured, your location can be tracked and your unencrypted communications, such as SMS, may be intercepted. Additionally, police may retrieve your messages and the content of your phone if they take custody of your phone, or later by warrant or subpoena.

    The powers that you are necessarily taking these precautions against are all funded by your taxes.

  • What's wrong with a grapheneOS device on airplane mode? Is firmware level tracking a confirmed thing?

  • What's wrong with a grapheneOS device on airplane mode? Is firmware level tracking a confirmed thing?

  • Burner phone ... leave your main one at home ... ABSOLUTELY DO NOT BRING YOUR MAIN PHONE

    Set up your burner phone with one or two accounts to things you might want to upload to ... encrypt as much as you can. Do not load all your social accounts ... only log into the bare minimum. If you are organized, log into temporary or fake or secondary accounts if you can.

    Start the day without any prior history, photos or content on the phone and keep as few contacts as you can ... memorize numbers that are important to you.

    Always be prepared to give up or lose your phone.

    And as always ... SAFETY GLASSES .... bring a pair of industry rated CSA approved safety glasses (try to get a pair with a tint so you can pass them as sunglasses). Look for safety glasses with anything marked ANSI Z87+, sometimes written Z87.1+ (note the plus) rated or CSA Z94.3 rated are ensured to safely withstand a direct high energy strike.

    .... additional things if you want to do more

    Bring a small new blank paper note book you can keep in a pocket with a small pen or pencil ... you might be taking notes like license plates, name tags or names of people or places ... its always faster to just write something down than in taking a shaky photo or tapping away a note on an app

    Wear a big scarf ... for guys or girls ... a scarf comes in handy for all kinds of emergencies including using it as something to cover your mouth, dress a wound, tie something or cover something up.

    Wear a good pair of running shoes ... be prepared to run and be on your feet all day.

    Bring a small backpack and bring a couple bottles of water and some energy bars ... keep it light because you'll be on your feet all day and if things go bad, you might be targeted if you have a large pack ... plus an empty pack can be used to carry things later if you need to.

    Dress for the weather ... if its going to be hot, wear light clothing but if things go bad and you have to stay out over night or longer, bring a light jacket ... if rain is forecast within a day or two, bring a small poncho

    To add onto the phone section: (1) Disable any biometric authentication, and (2) turn/keep it off whenever there's a chance that it will be siezed.

    1. While the first amendment protects you from being required to give up your phone's pass code, there's no protection against someone just holding the phone up to your face or fingerprints to unlock it.

    2. While your phone is never totally impenetrable, it is significantly harder to access in its BFU state (before first unlock). Most commercially available cracking tools will only work if the phone is in it's AFU state (after first unlock).

  • Burner phone ... leave your main one at home ... ABSOLUTELY DO NOT BRING YOUR MAIN PHONE

    Set up your burner phone with one or two accounts to things you might want to upload to ... encrypt as much as you can. Do not load all your social accounts ... only log into the bare minimum. If you are organized, log into temporary or fake or secondary accounts if you can.

    Start the day without any prior history, photos or content on the phone and keep as few contacts as you can ... memorize numbers that are important to you.

    Always be prepared to give up or lose your phone.

    And as always ... SAFETY GLASSES .... bring a pair of industry rated CSA approved safety glasses (try to get a pair with a tint so you can pass them as sunglasses). Look for safety glasses with anything marked ANSI Z87+, sometimes written Z87.1+ (note the plus) rated or CSA Z94.3 rated are ensured to safely withstand a direct high energy strike.

    .... additional things if you want to do more

    Bring a small new blank paper note book you can keep in a pocket with a small pen or pencil ... you might be taking notes like license plates, name tags or names of people or places ... its always faster to just write something down than in taking a shaky photo or tapping away a note on an app

    Wear a big scarf ... for guys or girls ... a scarf comes in handy for all kinds of emergencies including using it as something to cover your mouth, dress a wound, tie something or cover something up.

    Wear a good pair of running shoes ... be prepared to run and be on your feet all day.

    Bring a small backpack and bring a couple bottles of water and some energy bars ... keep it light because you'll be on your feet all day and if things go bad, you might be targeted if you have a large pack ... plus an empty pack can be used to carry things later if you need to.

    Dress for the weather ... if its going to be hot, wear light clothing but if things go bad and you have to stay out over night or longer, bring a light jacket ... if rain is forecast within a day or two, bring a small poncho

    Ideally, that burner phone never goes anywhere near your home or any place you frequent from the time it is acquired until the time it is destroyed.

    Briar is a good messaging app for you and your group. It will work (to some degree or another) over bluetooth even after they shut down the cell towers. Keep posting information about law enforcement deployment numbers and locations.

    Airplanes.live provides unfiltered ADS-B data, useful for identifying and locating law enforcement aircraft, including drones.

    For uploading media, choose overseas fediverse instances for your account, which are not subject to US law, and won't get shut down or raided by US law enforcement if you upload something they don't like.

    I've been suggesting this everywhere: pick a dozen different protest locations, and share your list with everyone you meet. If and when law enforcement deploys in force at your current location, leave for another. Force them to constantly redeploy to multiple locations.

  • Shared here for public benefit.

    Before going to a protest, demonstrators or observers should note that their cellphones may subject them to surveillance tactics by law enforcement. If your cellphone is on and unsecured, your location can be tracked and your unencrypted communications, such as SMS, may be intercepted. Additionally, police may retrieve your messages and the content of your phone if they take custody of your phone, or later by warrant or subpoena.

    Leave it at home lol

  • thats my plan. im not taking wallet or keys or anything. just a transit card.

    Also bring an ID and some cash. E.g. to buy some snacks/meal/water if the day goes longer than you planned for.

  • To add onto the phone section: (1) Disable any biometric authentication, and (2) turn/keep it off whenever there's a chance that it will be siezed.

    1. While the first amendment protects you from being required to give up your phone's pass code, there's no protection against someone just holding the phone up to your face or fingerprints to unlock it.

    2. While your phone is never totally impenetrable, it is significantly harder to access in its BFU state (before first unlock). Most commercially available cracking tools will only work if the phone is in it's AFU state (after first unlock).

    I've seen plenty of videos of cops holding a suspect down and forcing a fingerprint unlock...

  • Shared here for public benefit.

    Before going to a protest, demonstrators or observers should note that their cellphones may subject them to surveillance tactics by law enforcement. If your cellphone is on and unsecured, your location can be tracked and your unencrypted communications, such as SMS, may be intercepted. Additionally, police may retrieve your messages and the content of your phone if they take custody of your phone, or later by warrant or subpoena.

    Don't bring it

  • Shared here for public benefit.

    Before going to a protest, demonstrators or observers should note that their cellphones may subject them to surveillance tactics by law enforcement. If your cellphone is on and unsecured, your location can be tracked and your unencrypted communications, such as SMS, may be intercepted. Additionally, police may retrieve your messages and the content of your phone if they take custody of your phone, or later by warrant or subpoena.

    Leave it at home.

    I can understand the wish to film things; I recommend buying a cheap camera, maybe one to strap on your forehead (starting at $20) or an old compact digital camera. Something without any sort of connectivity. Something you can leave behind if the going gets rough.

  • Buy a feature phone in cash at a Dollar General as far away from home as you can feasibly get. Do not interact with any other business in the area. Just buy the phone and leave. Activate it at a public library. Add no contacts. Tell no one that it exists.

    Use cash.

  • Shared here for public benefit.

    Before going to a protest, demonstrators or observers should note that their cellphones may subject them to surveillance tactics by law enforcement. If your cellphone is on and unsecured, your location can be tracked and your unencrypted communications, such as SMS, may be intercepted. Additionally, police may retrieve your messages and the content of your phone if they take custody of your phone, or later by warrant or subpoena.

    Stolen from another post:

    "you need around 6 layers of tin foil you can test this if you have a bluetooth device start playing some music or any audio and start wrapping in tinfoil until it disconnects id also say to leave your phone at home sk it pings the cell towers that you are at home and bring a burner if you can and make sure the burner is private so use cash prepaid sims and dont put the sim in at home or work make sure its all a mall away from cameras"

    Be safe tomorrow everyone

  • Having an ID can help if you do get arrested. But that's about all I carry.

    Why do you need an ID? Leave it in your car if you're driving.

    I don't think there's a single state that requires you to actually carry documentation.

    These are the states that require you to at least verbally state your name, and only if the officer has reasonable suspicion that you have or will commit a crime.

    They can ask your name. You may not have to answer.

    Research your state's law on this before you go. It's in the link.

  • They may confiscate your phone and record all data on it.

    If it's a fresh wipe with a good passcode, and you keep it on airplane mode, you're probably fine.

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    eyekaytee@aussie.zoneE
    They will say something like solar went from 600gw to 1000 thats a 66% increase this year and coal only increased 40% except coal is 3600gw to 6400. Hrmmmm, maybe these numbers are outdated? Based on this coal and gas are down: In Q1 2025, solar generation rose 48% compared to the same period in 2024. Solar power reached 254 TWh, making up 10% of total electricity. This was the largest increase among all clean energy sources. Coal-fired electricity dropped by 4%, falling to 1,421 TWh. Gas-fired power also went down by 4%, reaching 67 TWh https://carboncredits.com/china-sets-clean-energy-record-in-early-2025-with-951-tw/ are no where close to what is required to meet their climate goals Which ones in particular are you talking about? Trump signs executive order directing US withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement — again https://apnews.com/article/trump-paris-agreement-climate-change-788907bb89fe307a964be757313cdfb0 China vowed on Tuesday to continue participating in two cornerstone multinational arrangements -- the World Health Organization and Paris climate accord -- after newly sworn-in US President Donald Trump ordered withdrawals from them. https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250121-china-says-committed-to-who-paris-climate-deal-after-us-pulls-out What's that saying? You hate it when the person you hate is doing good? I can't remember what it is I can't fault them for what they're doing at the moment, even if they are run by an evil dictatorship and do pollute the most I’m not sure how european defense spending is relevant It suggests there is money available in the bank to fund solar/wind/battery, but instead they are preparing for? something? what? who knows. France can make a fighter jet at home but not solar panels apparently. Prehaps they would be made in a country with environmental and labour laws if governments legislated properly to prevent companies outsourcing manufacturing. However this doesnt absolve china. China isnt being forced at Gunpoint to produce these goods with low labour regulation and low environmental regulation. You're right, it doesn't absolve china, and I avoid purchasing things from them wherever possible, my solar panels and EV were made in South Korea, my home battery was made in Germany, there are only a few things in my house made in China, most of them I got second hand but unfortunately there is no escaping the giant of manufacturing. With that said it's one thing for me to sit here and tut tut at China, but I realise I am not most people, the most clearest example is the extreme anti-ai, anti-billionaire bias on this platform, in real life most people don't give a fuck, they love Amazon/Microsoft/Google/Apple etc, they can't go a day without them. So I consider myself a realist, if you want people to buy your stuff then you will need to make the conditions possible for them to WANT to buy your stuff, not out of some moral lecture and Europe isn't doing that, if we look at energy prices: Can someone actually point out to me where this comes from? ... At the end of the day energy is a small % of EU household spending I was looking at corporate/business energy use: Major European companies are already moving to cut costs and retain their competitive edge. For example, Thyssenkrupp, Germany’s largest steelmaker, said on Monday it would slash 11,000 jobs in its steel division by 2030, in a major corporate reshuffle. https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/High-Energy-Costs-Continue-to-Plague-European-Industry.html Prices have since fallen but are still high compared to other countries. A poll by Germany's DIHK Chambers of Industry and Commerce of around 3,300 companies showed that 37% were considering cutting production or moving abroad, up from 31% last year and 16% in 2022. For energy-intensive industrial firms some 45% of companies were mulling slashing output or relocation, the survey showed. "The trust of the German economy in energy policy is severely damaged," Achim Dercks, DIHK deputy chief executive said, adding that the government had not succeeded in providing companies with a perspective for reliable and affordable energy supply. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/more-german-companies-mull-relocation-due-high-energy-prices-survey-2024-08-01/ I've seen nothing to suggest energy prices in the EU are SO cheap that it's worth moving manufacturing TO Europe, and this is what annoys me the most. I've pointed this out before but they have an excellent report on the issues: https://commission.europa.eu/document/download/97e481fd-2dc3-412d-be4c-f152a8232961_en?filename=The+future+of+European+competitiveness+_+A+competitiveness+strategy+for+Europe.pdf Then they put out this Competitive Compass: https://commission.europa.eu/topics/eu-competitiveness/competitiveness-compass_en But tbh every week in the EU it seems like they are chasing after some other goal. This would be great, it would have been greater 10 years ago. Agreed
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