The right to assemble and protest is enshrined in American law, but it can still be dangerous to hit the streets to make your voice heard. Your devices are a treasure trove of information about you, and you may not always know who’s collecting that data. Take a few minutes before you go to assess your digital and physical safety. Even if you have nothing to hide, you don’t want to accidentally give law enforcement officials any information you didn’t intend to share. Follow these tips to lock down your phone before a protest or other peaceful assembly.
I bring my phone, and my wallet, and my keys, and a $7,000 camera, and my lawyer’s phone number in my head.
they can suck my balls
always film cops
Just don’t bring it. Bring a digital pocket camera instead to document stuff.
Nowadays, you can’t use a mobile phone without signing in to some Google service or Apple. It’s mandatory. Giving them access to every data you own.
That and cell towers….
But a cheap burner. Don’t activate it. Keep it in a faraday pouch. In an emergency remove from faraday pouch and call 911. You can do that on phones you don’t activate.
But everything else, like you said, document with a digital camera.
GrapheneOS or KaiOS?
With the SIM completely turned off, maybe. But it’s still a bad idea.
Without the SIM.
Yup. It’s a bit of a question of how paranoid are you/you feel you need to be but it may be worth keeping in mind that the baseband modem of any phone is proprietary and runs its own unaudited software the end user has no control over or insight into.
No need to be paranoid, IMEI/IMSI are built into the protocols. Phone networks were never built with anonymity in mind
e/OS too? :3
I use my android phons without a google acccount without having a custom rom, it is usable just that most people are too ignorant and clueless
I have a Samsung phone and it is mandatory to have a Samsung account to use it.
You don’t need a samsung account lol. You probably missed the small text that allows you to skip it.
I have a Samsung Galaxy S10e and no Samsung account. I just flashed the rom. I also bought an unlocked phone, but I don’t think that actually matters. I am replying to you with said Samsung Galaxy S10e.
Yeah it wasn’t mandatory back in the s10 days years ago. But times have changed.
What ROM are you using?
I had to look it up, apparently I chose lineage. I don’t remember why, but I suspect it was the first one that I found that was compatible.
I do not think anything done to a protester’s/activist’s cellphone can make it safe to bring to protest/activism.
Yesterday, I posted a reply that said, just do not bring any cellphone with you. I do not own one & double check people using electronics around me during activists activities. Lat night, before I went to sleep, the obvious occurred to me, activists need to record evidence of what is going at the activism.
Thus, my updated answer/recommenation (as a veteran, own no cellphone & double checks people using electronics around me activist) go back to the ‘80s’ or maybe, even ‘90s’ recording technology to record evidence of what is going at the activism.
These articles mean nothing. You have 2 options.
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Leave ALL electronics at home and do not bring anything to the protest that connects to a tower or the internet.
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Just deal with the fact you are being tracked and deal with it.
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Would an old school walkie talkie be a better solution? You want to be able to communicate within a group in case shit happen
Yes. You can get them cheap online and they have a built in “encryption” function that isn’t well protected but might prevent people from listening in realtime.
They are not actually encrypted (anything like that on the box is basically a lie). Just pre-arrange code words for emergencies and use a “handle” instead of a name. Old school works.
That depends what you’re trying to solve. For a lot of people, they’re still gonna need their phone. I don’t think “Just use a walkie talkie bro” would read as very helpful advice to the average person.
If, however, you are the sort of person organizing a protest or other similar activity, yes, absolutely, walkie tallies are great. A lot of people who do serious political activism talk about how radio is still the most resilient communication method. Not fool-proof, you definitely need to study up on the limitations, but an invaluable tool to be aware of.
If you are going to a protest as a group, and you have the resources to invest a few hundred bucks, getting a set of walkie-talkies for the group plus a dedicated burner one responsible person to carry (maybe someone who will be in radio range but clear of the actual happenings) is also a solid strategy, but we also shouldn’t be acting like “Going as a group” and “spending a few hundred dollars” are prerequisites for being politically active. There need to be solutions for everyone.
I think FRS is the only thing legally available without a license. You can buy GMRS radios on Amazon that will communicate with FRS radios on all of the FRS channels, see here:
https://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/FRS/GMRS_combined_channel_chart
However, these radios are VERY limited in an urban area with lots of concrete towers. In my experience the GMRS radios on “high power” really only go one little valley over out in the woods. In the city you might get two or three blocks because of all the concrete. You are required to have a license to use GMRS and identify your station every 15 minutes but almost nobody does it. Hell, I listen to the local walmart using GMRS and you’re not even supposed to use it for commercial purposes.
Maybe Meshtastic? That’s a radio I haven’t messed with and I don’t know about it’s performance in an urban environment.
Ear piece highly recommended. The audio is not like a phone call and in a loud environment you will not be able to copy. Practice beforehand because radio is not like a phone call, you need to have some experience.
Going to a Protest? Don’t Bring Your Phone
FTFY
Someone’s gotta record the fascism.
Pretty easy to take video on an old phone without a SIM, or with a cheapo burner sim.
Are there “burner sims” you can get nowadays that don’t require online activation (i.e. they can easily trace the sim back to you)?
Phreeli, if you pay using crypto that can keep you anonymous
Or Saily, or anything in Europe, just buy with cash etc. probably also doable with Walmart SIMs in us…
cameras exist.
Camera’s can be easily confiscated and broken by fascists.
Instant uploads are much harder to suppress.
no bigger than a phone, no harder to destroy than a phone. just as easy to conceal as a phone.
SD cards are pretty resilient.
Someone will (and probably better). There are more cameras at protests than ever in history. What’s missing is mass action by complacent people.
Also calling help if/when they shoot you might be helpful.
Then use… a camera??
Shut off and leave your phone at home, buy a pay-as-you-go to bring with you for emergency contact/coordination
Right? It’s like these guys have never seen The Wire.
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I believe there are Bluetooth network protocols that mesh that would work for messaging and not require cell service. It would be smart to organize using something like that and just use any cell phone without cell service turned on. That still gives you the ability to call 911 in case of emergencies as well.
You can use Briar, BitChat, or Bridgefy to communicate, without having internet connections. I’ve only tried Briar, which works with cell networks, wifi, also bluetooth.
True, but if surveillance is your concern, they are monitoring Bluetooth devices too.
Does that matter? If it’s a device that you bought used just for this? There is no name attached to that device at that point. Buy it used on Craigslist, use it for the event, throw it away. It can be any cheap, crappy phone.
Cell service is always turned on on a phone, even with no SIM card and the phone in airplane mode, and for most phones, even when the phone is “off”. They still ping the local towers semi regularly; they just don’t ramp up transmission power ir try to establish a full connection.
Anyone got a list of Bluetooth devices without a cell antenna where the BT MAC is regularly scrambled?
Does it matter if that cell service isn’t connected to a name?
It’s connected to your name when you go home
So, turn it off before you go home?
They still talk to the tower when turned off
Unless you stop at a coffee shop, upload content to a secure server, ditch the SIM and power off the device.
Unless you stop at a coffee shop
Now they also have you on camera
What kind of garbage corporate coffee shops are you going to?
No, because it will spend most of its time after leaving the store in your home.
First, don’t buy it from a store. Second, turn that sucker off before you go home.
leave your primary phone ON at home.
Shut off and leave your phone at home, buy a pay-as-you-go to bring with you for emergency contact
/coordinationLeave the pay-as-you-go phone powered off too, and only power it up if you actually have to use it. If you have to use it once, you need to get a replacement for a future event.
I’m thinking perhaps something like Meshtastic transmitters and receivers should be used for coordination instead.
Meshtastic is just as susceptible to listening and isn’t perfect at encryption or anonymity but should be another tool to consider when cellphone towers are down or otherwise unusable.
It’s alright for non-critical stuff. Ok for getting help, not the best for coordinating action.
Reticulum is an alternative network/protocol that focuses more on security and interconnection of different networks
Meshtastic is exactly what needs to be implemented
I ran across that instance the other day and immediately thought about coordination.
It’s like sneaker net for piracy.
Fuck yeah, hack the planet
What’s the plan for having your phone at home? They’re going door to door and shooting innocent white American citizens.
What’s the plan for having your phone at home?
#00 inserts for my pump action wireless hole punch.
No no, you’ll need slugs if you want to hole-punch any body armor.
Not that I would know what you aim on using your wireless hole-punch for.
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The proper tactic for armored assailants is to aim for the groin.
I mean, one to the chest will at least slow them down, but yea, I can get on board with blasting some dicks off. lol
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Hunh, good to know.
Head and dick shots only, then.
Thanks.
Do they make sabot rounds for shotguns?
Lol, lmao even. That’s some careful word play for the sake of unneccesary hyperbole.
They have shot innocent white American citizens. In some other places they have gone door to door. Those are independent actions, not a combined reality. We can all agree they’re god awful as a massive understatement without lying about door to door murder squads.
Inb4 “if you have to make that kind of distinction you’re already fucked” yeah, we are, but accurate information about the ground situation is vital for any forward movement.
Man, that’s a Reddit-pedantic “you forgot PEDMAS” -like response to someone worrying about getting their home raided and asking a simple question.
You’re not fucked. You’re a dick. And being one isn’t “vital” to anything.
You can’t seriously be suggesting that lying to people about the sitaution is in any way helpful.
Fuck off and sow FUD elsewhere.
You can’t be so dense as to think that simple minded hair splitting is actually useful when people are being dragged from their homes at gunpoint by the US Gestapo right now?
Holy shit.
You might as well be a Fed.
You can buy faraday wallets for like $20.
Others said not all work well though.
Wrapping in aluminum foil works. Thicker is better, more wraps is better. But one wrap stopped my test call.
I tested mine using my keyfob (which is what I bought it for). Test, for sure, but there are ones that work. Aluminum foil also works.
IMO just having your personal device on you in the presence of a protest puts you in danger. They have ample tools to track cellular devices that basically cannot be guarded against without disabling the function altogether, such as with a Faraday bag. They will catch and log that you were at a protest, and use that against you later.
don’t leave out the fact that they’ll just shoot you in the face for no reason, and then get “absolute immunity”
And then go on TV and call you a terrorist 15 minutes later.
Cripes all of that and not even, “Buy a burner SIM card”, “Use a VPN at all time if you have to use data”, “For the love of god don’t use biometrics as authorization, use a alphanumeric password to unlock”, “Use the damn encryption solution provided by your phone’s OS”.
Burner sim won’t help, you need a burner phone too.
A VPN does not stop location data for your physical device when looking at cellular data from the carrier. Your location can and is always triangulated using cell towers. VPNs only ever protect your IP address from being geolocated and encrypting the data downloaded and uploaded while connected. Bit streams are still sent and received from a physical place in the world before the VPN hides your traffic and that is recorded by the cell provider.
I turned off biometrics for unlocking the phone. Still works for downloads, passwords, everything but unlocking the phone. I’ve barely noticed a change.
- Get a cheap mobile specifically for protests, especially using it for pictures and video.
- Set it up to livestream everything, so that any video evidence gained can’t be taken away.
- Get a faraday bag for when you need to put that mobile away and not be tracked.
Maybe I’m missing something though?
I got a body cam for about $50 amazon dot com/dp/B0BHZ4PRRG, currently unavailable. Makes a great dashcam too. When the usb charging cable is plugged in it turns on when you start your car and turns off when you turn off your car.
The only thing you’re missing is to put a piece of white tape on the sole of your shoe. When you are lying on the ground It’s a cop signal that you are an undercover agent.
Faraday bag all electronic items; phone, smartwatch; hell, I’d even bag my car keys. Cover your face, especially the eye area. Make your voice heard, but don’t be a data point.
Yeah. I see so many protesters with their face not covered. Cover your face!!!
Also, dress like them. You want to create as much confusion as possible.
That works too. The point is to hide your identity as well as create as much confusion as you can.
This might be relevant for following ICE around or direct action, but at this point there’s almost zero personal risk from attending something like a rally or a march.
My relatives and even friends my age are afraid to go to protests. They read stuff like this, and it acts as demobilization messaging. In my experience, once you get them to go once they’re no longer afraid to engage, but there’s an initial fear and anticipatory obedience that has to be overcome.
inb4 protests do nothing: getting people to stick their toe in the water helps build commitment that will one day be necessary to gain critical mass for more organized disobedience.
I go to protests without my phone, and I’m afraid every time.
I get that nothing is likely to happen to me, but it could. I get that this is am irrational fear. But idk strategically what to do.
ICE has told the press that they are “at war.” It’s not an irrational fear.
I don’t think your fear is irrational, for whatever that’s worth
ICE has literally started going door to door in Minnesota looking for immigrants and activists. It’s already starting, people need to be protecting their privacy now.
This might be relevant for following ICE around or direct action, but at this point there’s almost zero personal risk from attending something like a rally or a march.
No. If the data exists at any point, then a future threat will be able to exploit it, so full on nazi style fascism might not be here yet, but when it is, you’ll be in danger. Data can sleep forever before it becomes a threat.
It already is, with taking a digital device!
