Simple steps to take before hitting the streets

  • AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space
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    1 year ago

    Leave it at home and, if you need a phone, take a burner that doesn’t have your personal data and isn’t logged into any of your accounts.

    • Snot Flickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      1 year ago

      You also have better found a way to pay for the burner in cash or with a pre-paid debit card. A lot of places in the US won’t let you buy a “burner phone” without a credit/debit card that has your name attached to it.

        • Baku@aussie.zone
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          1 year ago

          Seriously. In Australia, you have to “activate” your Sim card with your full name, email, bank details (depending on the carrier), and a copy of your driver’s license. Hell, I bought my last phone directly from a carrier, completely outright, with cash, prepaid with no plan, and they took a photocopy of my drivers license. Buying phones elsewhere they’ve never done that to me, as long as it’s prepaid and bought outright, but for some reason the major telcos do it for all purchases

          • delirious_owl@discuss.online
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            1 year ago

            Usually what you do in this situation is go to the tourist hot spot and find a mobile shop pretending to be a tourist without a drivers license. Usually within a few days you’ll find someone who will use their info and sell you a Sim card.

  • Otter@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    While leaving it behind is best for privacy, the article touches on some reasons people bring them anyway

    Leaving your phone behind means the data it holds and transmits will be the safest it will ever be, but it also means giving up access to important resources. It becomes much more difficult to coordinate with others, or get updates from social media. For many, phone cameras are also the only way they can document what’s happening.

    If you have access to a separate phone, whether it’s a “burner” phone, an old smartphone that you can reset, or an old-fashioned camera, you could choose to bring these devices instead of your regularly-used phone. However, not everyone has access to these devices, or can afford to purchase a separate phone just for protesting.

  • 乇ㄥ乇¢ㄒ尺ㄖ@infosec.pub
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    1 year ago

    Just leave your phone at home, and bring a Digital camera, and few SD Cards … Oh, wait… < insert company name here > makes Cameras that spy on you… nevermind…

    maybe we should hire a fast sketching artist to draw police brutality … What.!.. your pencil can track you now… come…ooooonnn

    • rar@discuss.online
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      1 year ago

      Burner phone to anything that requires communication. Erase metadata of anything that will be shared and uploaded online.

    • delirious_owl@discuss.online
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      1 year ago

      No, its better to have a smart device that syncs photos to your encrypted cloud in case you’re attacked and your attacker breaks your SD card to destroy the evidence

  • menas@lemmy.wtf
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    1 year ago

    Pretty good stuff.

    However I read many reactions : “don’t take your phone with you” This is a common issue in a lot of activist place to don’t ask ourselves why people are acting like this ? before telling them to stop. They may have good reasons, and in a case of protests, there is.

    • Filming the cops : I don’t know in the US, but in a lot of countries, cops are less violent when they know someone is filming them. This may help people harmed by the police, in giving them evidence, or helping mobilization in the futur. After mass arrestation, it could be hard to know how as been arrested or not; some legal support hotline ask this kind of evidence for this reasons. Of course this some sensitive material, and need to be secured too. For example, the cops may target you if you are filming them.

    • Calling the legal support hotline : Some of them ask to be called just after arrestation or cops actions, to make a precise report. You could call them when someone you know have been attacked or kidnapped by the police.

    • Call medial support : I don’t know how the emergency number is linked with the repressive force in the US, but in a lot of country, it’s not. Even if it’s rare, it could be a vital issue.

    All this actions are important and individuals should compare the risks they take in taking them and what we lost in not acting like that. Of course this risks have to be documented; with flyers at the start of a protests for example.

    I would recommend to mutualise actions to decentralize risks. Make a team with one or two people with burned phone and dedicated camera (paid by everyone); let your other phones at home. Stay (at least) by pair, and keep in eye someone with a phone.

    They may be better plan of actions, but we couldn’t just let down cop watch ant street medic just for the illusion of individual safety. Such thing simply do not exist

  • GBU_28@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Layer one: “front line”: folks should be acting on passive listen/pushed information from folks far back that will not get kettled or trapped. Media they collect should be Livestreamed for safe storage… But they should be focused on non violent protest, emit the protest message and find/eject bad actors. Equipment should be “burner” quality, wiped and purpose setup with the expectation of seizure.

    Layer 2: “observe, document, report”: folks should be using encrypted apps to communicate, and should intend to not be arrested, and to collect as much quality content as possible. These folks should be ready to be arrested, but avoid as possible.

    Layer 3: “coordinate”: these folks should be digesting all possible data about risks, police activity, lawful orders, movements, etc. They should be feeding information about proper actions. They should use encrypted tools but plan to avoid arrest.

    This is all hypothetical.

  • henfredemars@infosec.pub
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    1 year ago

    Phones are tracking devices. Do not bring your phone, not even turned off because many phones emit Bluetooth beacons and other data that can be recorded and traced.

    If you bring a phone, make sure that phone has no idea who you are.

    • floofloof@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      Even if the phone doesn’t know who you are, the shop that sold you the phone or the SIM, or the credit card company you paid with, can know who you are. So you’d have to use cash. Even without these, your movements can be tracked through a burner phone and informed guesses made about who you are (e.g. if the phone has been at your home or with your friends).

      Turning off your phone doesn’t necessarily protect you from tracking either:

      https://www.androidauthority.com/android-15-powered-off-api-pixel-9-track-switched-off-3425472/

      Easiest, as others say, just not to carry a phone.

    • cm0002@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      not even turned off because many phones emit Bluetooth beacons and other data that can be recorded and traced

      That’s a bunch of bull, off is still off unless you have a reputable link/source that says otherwise.

      No need to spread misinformation or conspiracy theories.

      • Boozilla@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Never underestimate how far they will go to track your movements, habits, etc. It’s not even about “the gubment spyin’ on me”. It’s about how valuable that data is to corporate assholes who like to target you with customized advertising, and resell your data, etc. (And yes, as a side-effect, the police can also sometimes take advantage of this ubiquitous data capture).

        We live in a time when even our stupid cars spy on us:

        https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/18/podcasts/the-daily/car-gm-insurance-spying.html

        It’s why they push the internet of shit so hard. Nobody needs a “smart fridge” but by god, they really want us all to have one.

        • cm0002@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Ok I stand partially corrected, it’s something that’s coming but is not rolled out yet and looks like it’ll need the latest phones so everything slightly older is still fine

          • delirious_owl@discuss.online
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            1 year ago

            You’re right that this doesn’t affect all devices. I’m not sure if its only a software thing or if its baked into hardware.

            Eg I’d I buy some new device with this and install CalyxOS, does it still leave Bluetooth on when the device is off?

          • henfredemars@infosec.pub
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            1 year ago

            It is actively rolled out right now all the way back to iPhone 11 (2019) while the device is powered off. Version 16 is current, and the power “off” tracking was backported to older devices.

            Android support is spottier. We’ve had powered off features one OnePlus for some time, such as the ability to trigger alarms while turned off, but more advanced features like location tracking are much more recent to Android because it usually requires specific hardware support to operate while using almost no battery. Apple has the privilege of vertical integration, so they were able to update older firmware.

            I think this trend is very concerning, because with no user-servicable battery, we’re essentially forced into having our phones on to some degree at all times.

      • jjffnn@feddit.dk
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        1 year ago

        I can’t seem to find any CVE called crowbar in regards to Android. Only one for PHP and one for SUSE.
        Would you mind giving more info to help me find out more?

        • june (she/her)@lemmy.ml
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          1 year ago

          Its a tongue in cheek CVE. Crowbar is literally a crowbar. Like… beat the password or device access from you.

  • toastal@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    Signal & WhatsApp are not secure enough. Meta/Facebook regularly give data & metatadata to the cops & Signal is centralized & not self-hosted by your crew so while messages are encrypted, the metadata still isn’t. If you must use Signal, I would pick Molly as an Android client since you can a) encrypt the messages under a separate password for storage on seizure & b) you can use the UnifiedPush version to make sure your notification metadata isn’t going thru Google’s Firebase servers. Protests are the ideal place for Briar as it is works via mesh net so internet & SIM cards are not required (but years ago wden I tried it, the app was a major battery drainer).