How Do I Prepare My Phone for a Protest?
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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.
Turn it off and leave it at home.
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Jesus Christ, this conversation is scary. I wish y’all good luck that none of these precautions are necessary.
As someone in a blue state where governance is sane, I’m “raw dogging it” (effing offensive slang term but now I’ve used it once in my life and can rest easy) and bringing my kids (teens). M also going to the local demonstration rather than go into the city for a big one - to some extent it’s a numbers game: ICE can’t raid them all and police aren’t legally allowed to help them
…. And hopefully my optimism is well founded
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Edit: huge success! Entirely peaceful. While a few cops drove by, there was no police presence. Thousands of people of all ages lining both sides of main st, and three sides of our town common. Constant honking from supporters driving by. It was very inspirational. I’m proud of my fellow citizens and hope our voice for restoring sanity and democracy is heard.
For those pessimists,a bit more context why I was so optimistic….. a few years back, our mayor and police were participants in a local BLM rally. Also a big part of local outrage against fascism was a city counselor getting assaulted and arrested for videoing an illegal raid on one of his constituents.
I’m in one of the bluest. Our police and FBI are not “blue.” American spy forces and “committee on anti-American activities”-ass motherfuckers are not kind or just, no matter the voting tendencies of the populace.
How many decades have we seen far right terror groups overlooked for anti-capitalist leftists? The left threatens the status quo, the right fortifies it. The blue and red dichotomy is the status quo. The democrats support the genocide in Palestine. Going against that status quo makes you not safe from government crackdowns, the party in power is completely irrelevant.
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You get a burner for the protest and give your phone to a friend or family member for the day so that it still pings towers at the usual places.
Or at home. It’s not unusual for me to spend several hours at home on a Saturday.
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Here is the simple trick: leave your phone at home. Get a burner.
Side note, leave the burner in a Faraday bag when it's going to be near your daily driver.
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Jesus Christ, this conversation is scary. I wish y’all good luck that none of these precautions are necessary.
As someone in a blue state where governance is sane, I’m “raw dogging it” (effing offensive slang term but now I’ve used it once in my life and can rest easy) and bringing my kids (teens). M also going to the local demonstration rather than go into the city for a big one - to some extent it’s a numbers game: ICE can’t raid them all and police aren’t legally allowed to help them
…. And hopefully my optimism is well founded
—-
Edit: huge success! Entirely peaceful. While a few cops drove by, there was no police presence. Thousands of people of all ages lining both sides of main st, and three sides of our town common. Constant honking from supporters driving by. It was very inspirational. I’m proud of my fellow citizens and hope our voice for restoring sanity and democracy is heard.
For those pessimists,a bit more context why I was so optimistic….. a few years back, our mayor and police were participants in a local BLM rally. Also a big part of local outrage against fascism was a city counselor getting assaulted and arrested for videoing an illegal raid on one of his constituents.
The fact that this conversation is even necessary is to me more scary.
I used to think the Bush era was bad. I’d gladly trade that for now.
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Yes, but this will also call emergency services after, I think, ten seconds.
Make sure you cancel that call right away unless you actually need them.
Honestly, it would be kind of funny that your phone calls emergency services when you get pulled over and you don't want them to force you to unlock your phone, having a 911 operator recording the entire interaction's audio.
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Side note, leave the burner in a Faraday bag when it's going to be near your daily driver.
Wow, I hadn’t even thought about that. Excellent point!!
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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.
Also multiple SD cards, swapping out frequently so even if they grash the camera you still have something.
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Turn it off and leave it at home.
Most modern devices track the phone even when it's turned off. If you can't remove the battery, leave it at home.
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Turn it off and leave it at home.
Leave it on at home.
"Your honor, as you can see from my mobile device location history, I never even left my house that day."
Not that that'll actually work or that they'll care, but still...
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The fact that this conversation is even necessary is to me more scary.
I used to think the Bush era was bad. I’d gladly trade that for now.
Bush was just a goofy lil war criminal compared to this shit
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Nowadays millennials and Gen Z use raw dogging to indicate going either without protection to their electronic devices, or foregoing the use of devices like on a long plane ride.
Yes, very cringey slang for going without protection. Originally from pregnancy or STDs, but now also from boredom. In my case, without the protection of a mask or leaving my wallet and phone at home. I even drove and parked in a local public garage, so would be traceable in several different ways
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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
Bring a pair of foam earplug as well. They weigh and cost nothing, and could be useful of they try to use sonic deterents against you.
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Leave it on at home.
"Your honor, as you can see from my mobile device location history, I never even left my house that day."
Not that that'll actually work or that they'll care, but still...
"I let my landlord borrow my car, though. He said it was important."
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Side note, leave the burner in a Faraday bag when it's going to be near your daily driver.
Faraday bags do not work with modern phones anymore, specifically 5G
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Faraday bags do not work with modern phones anymore, specifically 5G
Burner means non Smartphone with a fresh anonymous sim.
Its not easy to get but important enough to "jump the hoops" -
people on the internet love to talk about all these great security smart things that they will definitely never do.
leave valuables at home, wear unremarkable clothes, and write your lawyers number on your arm with a sharpie.
personally i bring my phone and a leica. ive been to jail for protesting before and in my current situation i just don't care.
Its important because you endanger not just yourself but anyone who is possibly linked through your activities. Your actions are your own responsibility. If you are able to protect others in this Situations you should.
And i hope you only document voilation oft power with your leika and not others protesting. -
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.
Do not use Smartphones.
For the scarf use an unmarked tubescarf, its easely hidden in any collar. Cary bandages and lightsalt solution, like you use for contacts, to treat teargas and light wounds.
If they get you you want nothing outside oft your memory that has any link to others. Depending in the effect of carrying your passport with you in your country decide wether to take it along. -
Do not use Smartphones.
For the scarf use an unmarked tubescarf, its easely hidden in any collar. Cary bandages and lightsalt solution, like you use for contacts, to treat teargas and light wounds.
If they get you you want nothing outside oft your memory that has any link to others. Depending in the effect of carrying your passport with you in your country decide wether to take it along.Smartphones are far too valuable to our efforts to be left at home. They are the difference between personally observing law enforcement atrocities, and being able to prove them. The media isn't covering the protests. We need as much video as we can get. We need to be able to coordinate efforts, passing along troop deployments and numbers.
While our main phones and accounts are probably linked to more information than law enforcement should ever be allowed to touch, burners add too much to our efforts to seriously consider not bringing them.
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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.
Leave it at home for a protest if you care about being tracked.
Pretty much all cell phones can be tracked even when turned off.
