How to secure your phone before attending a protest

If you can, leave your phone at home

That's it! There's the answer!

Its a balancing act. You shouldn't be recording tiktoks and doing the carlton.
But there is a lot of value in organizers being able to communicate. If you see a fat white kid with an assault rifle, you let people know. Same with when the patrol wagons roll in.
And there is a LOT of value in being able to make it clear to the cops that you are recording before they decide to "teach some people a lesson".
I chat about this with my activist buddies a lot. And one thing we are increasingly realizing is that there is a LOT of value in convincing even a mid-tier IRL streamer to come out. Yeah, they are fucking obnoxious when they are trying to yell to chat. But it is someone who is high enough profile that they won't immediately have their gear destroyed AND privileged enough that they won't even realize that is an option until it is too late. At which point the decision as to how to handle the escalation is already happening.
- Hmm if it's a smartphone, their location can still be tracked even if they're not recording videos for social media. Even if it's not a smartphone, their location can be triangulated.
  I've never attended a protest, but one of my younger siblings has. I agree with the author here: don't take a smartphone with you. If you need to go to a protest, and it's a charged topic (i.e. people have been fired or detained for it), take a dumb phone and make calls once you're considerably away from the protest's meeting site. Or, buy a burner phone for use only at the meeting site. If video footage is that big of a deal, take an old-fashioned video camera to record.
- The guide seems to be aimed at attendees, rather than organizers and media. If someone is showing up to add their voice to the protest, then leaving their phone at home is an ideal way to minimize their footprint.
- You shouldn’t be recording tiktoks and doing the carlton.
  Then why even GO to a protest??? To stand up for our freedoms? Pssshhhh!!!!
  does the carlton
- Just an aside that Paddy wagons is pretty racist.
If you aren't communicating that a protest happened, then it didn't happen.
It's quite literally the entire point.
- Buy a camera. Record. Then when you get back, scrub the exif, then upload.
  (Hopefully you got a Tails USB ready)
"But how will I livestream my protest against Elon on X with out my phone?"
Ideally also leave your car at home and take public transit while paying with cash or walk. CCTV and facial recognition are still issues, but you would be reducing your fingerprint a ton.
Of course! It's so obvious!

This so much!
Leave all Bluetooth devices at home as well as they have unique IDs that can be tied back to you as well.
And if you're worried about your stereo you can always pull the fuse so it gets no power then put the fuse back when you get home.
Need directions? Print them and DO NOT LOSE THE PAPER!
- I wouldn’t bring paper directions unless they lead to and from a place that ISN’T related to you. Somewhere you know you can get to and from by heart but is a public place, for instance. Don’t give away a beautiful map from your home address To the protest.
LAAAND OF THE FREEEEEEEE

Start protecting your privacy by not visiting the Verge and the 876 partners they share your personal data with.

What happens if you click manage settings?
- You get to choose even more companies to share with.
- Not much better.
  They let you reduce it to 540 partners they somehow deem "essential" most of which are ad networks.
ever heard of Microsoft?

Gosh, how many people here, who are proposing that people leave their phones at home have actually been to a protest in real life?

My strong guess is: None. Neither has the author of the article been to one.

As someone who attended my fair share protests,including ones in fairly oppressive countries: Take a fucking phone with you, but please use a designated burner phone.

Reasons to have a phone:

Communication is necessary and paramount - from reorganisation (we are blocked here, so we meet there)to warning (the cops are coming from there and block us off here) people communication is the major aspect that has enabled people to protest effectively and not fall into traps. We can only protest effectively if we are united. And that requires information.
Let's face it: Pictures and videos are important. Not only in a "the cops are beating us to pulp situation" (their use there is limited), but also to mobilise others, show the extend of the mobilisation (the other side will usually downplay the size of the protests), feed social media (which is important), etc. As long as basic precautions are taken (no faces/identifiable information, no crimes, change position after you post it) this actually helps the cause and maintains the narrative (it's mighty hard to brand protests "full of rioters" when social media shows 100k people protesting peacefully). Mainstream and foreign media relies on this as most media outlets to not have actual coverage of critical protests (and if they do, they usually are behind police lines).
Especially for larger protests you will often work in uncommon areas. Cities you have never been before. You will need reliable map services and geo location (where is the next hospital? Which shops are open? Are there any shopping malls we can slip into if needed? Where can we sleep? Is there a metro station we can use nearby?) This information is not only vital,it can be time critical. A friend of mine is only alive because his peers knew the way to the next hospital - neither of them was from the city, the ambulance stopped responding hours before that,etc.
Phones are good transmitters - the cops will find any media you have on you if they really want (and they will search very well if they want), don't think you can hide a micro SD card somewhere. Some countries(including the US) have started to x-ray their new inmates to make sure they don't hide media within their bodies. (Official excuse: Drug packaging and "welfare") So often the best bet is to get all evidence, all media the other side doesn't want to see out before they have access to your phone. (Which I wouldn't count on to get back)
They can also be a liveline to get one out of prison. The fact that relatives and fellow activists "know" that their loved ones are being arrested is essential for getting them out and prevent charges. Even in very democratic states the cops will be overstretched for days after a mass protest and people will be locked up without much identification and records. And none will know if Person A is locked up, in hospital, vanished due to something else (e.g. hiding or being a victim of something completely different - I know a girl who got offered a place to sleep after a protest and was locked in their basement for two days with their desire to make her their sex slave communicated), etc. Additionally,in the more oppressive countries,the other side will often use the "we don't know anything, the person didn't even attend" excuse to prevent people from getting legal help in time.

Now,the article has a bit of bad advice:

It is a horrible idea to simply wipe your old phone after backup. Storage doesn't work that way. It is a easy task for any forensic expert to restore most if not all information on the phone. And as it was not used with all data privacy considerations before,there is a good chance they will find leads.
It can be problematic to use VPNs, especially in a situation like this and if people use public VPNs. Remember,people know that VPNs exist and the other side usually has control over the telecommunications infrastructure. In at least two cases I know of, the use of a popular VPN within a certain cell tower range was used to differentiate between protestors and average citizens. People therefore should make an informed decision if they rather use normal "semi encrypted" communication (nothing unusual in using Signal,Bluesky,Twitter or Facebook in most countries) or if they want to use a VPN to tunnel their traffic but also are more susceptible.

Some better advice:

Get a burner phone - do not get a used phone,do use your old phone - I literally bought a old phone from a radical neo Nazi on eBay once - the restored data showed massive illegal activities. You can get new phone with a reasonable secure OS for around 100 bucks these days.
If possible get a prepaid card that is not linked to your name. Bonus if you can use a roaming card - a card from a different country. It is far more difficult for a country to access identifying information then. Do not use that card for anything else and do not set it up at home.
Create designated social media accounts for protesting and do not use them from home (unless proper precautions are used) and only use them for that.
Never log into any private accounts with the burner.
Do not store anything incriminating on the phone - in your mind you must always be treat it like a device the other side might have full access to. Because if they want to,they will. (Yeah, I know, some countries still protect that information - but even there I saw cops overstepping their borders and simply force people. And once they are in,they are in)
Degooglefy/Desamsungfy your phone as much as possible and make sure things like location based tracking,etc. are off.
Consider using Briar and make it popular amongst your fellow protesters. Briar can be used without any mobile phone coverage, as it works with WiFi or Bluetooth only (via ad hoc connections). A single phone hidden in a public place can be used as a relay and inform thousands. But it requires a certain amount of users to work effectively.
Once the other side got their hands on it consider it burned. Because that's what it is.
Keep your phone on, charged as much as possible,, but in full(!) airplane mode (unless you use Briar,then keep BT on) but keep your GPS activated (again: remove location tracking services). Preload the relevant maps onto the device, ideally with satellite picture if available, these can be helpful). Keep relevant documents (e.g. timetables, partner organisations,etc.) in another encrypted file.
Keep a reasonably encrypted file with a minimum number of contacts - lawyer, some civil rights organisations. If you want to have the number of a loved one find one of the countless online SIP providers(ideally in another country) and forward from there.
Most phones allow a number of numbers to be accessed without unlocking the phone. Save a lawyer/protest organisation number in there so you can access it without unlocking.
If you can,use an app that allows verifiable proof picture taking - there are various options that are FOSS available on F-Droid. This can later prevent the opposite side claiming that pictures were manipulated.
Please confirm everything I wrote from other source. First because there is no proof I am not a bad faith actor (I am not,but you don't know that), second I might have made a mistake.

_Edit to add the last two points. _

This is an amazing resource, thank you! What reasonably secure phone of around $100 are you thinking of?
Now that's something I'm gonna save. And pray that you're not an agent trying to spread misinformation
- Good point! Please everyone, verify everything I wrote externally for your own security - I really hope I didn't make any mistakes,but it's your security.
- I added two points that might be relevant.
I don't think anyone was suggesting that you don't take a phone. Just not taking your everyday phone.
A protest only really works if it's covered by the media, you definitely don't want the people you're protesting about to decide if it is or isn't covered by the media so you record it yourself.
- Nope. They literally are. See answers below my post and various others here.
You do realize that the act of protesting predates the invention of the phone by a long way, right?
- Yes. And I am old enough to have attended my first protest without a mobile phone - because I simply didn't have one yet back then. And my first one I organised actually was a failure because it was impossible to communicate a change of venue.
  And before my time protesting was suddenly much harder once the other side had the option to mobilise their forces and react to protesters much mor fluidly. (Mainly when handheld police radio became widely available)
  The point is: There is always a force, intelligence and information disadvantage between the different sides - a state actor will always be in a better position. This is even more true in times where mass surveillance is very easy to achieve. A developing world country nowadays easily can achieve a level of surveillance of protests that surpases Stasi levels in their best days for 1% of the resources. Proper and secure communications are one of the only ways to level the playing field at least a bit.
  Sure,you can go to plain old "we meet there at XY" protests. Have fun doing that. Your chances to be a victim of repression if you do so within repressive circumstances are far higher,but if you like that?

how to secure your phone: leave it at home. Done

Stil secure it, in case the pigs search your home after arresting you. But don't take it to a protest
Not buy one?

The EFF also has an article: https://ssd.eff.org/module/attending-protest

Back when I had Amazon smile, the donations went to the EFF. This makes me happy it went to a worthy cause.
- Smile only existed to bleed referral revenues away from search engines. Once enough people started using their app directly they no longer needed smile to make them skip referrers.
I was going to complain in the comments that the article doesn't mention anything about lockdown mode on iOS, but thankfully this eff one does. Thanks for sharing a superior article!

Buy a burner, keep the battery out until you arrive at the protest, remove the battery when you leave the protest. Don't store any phone numbers in that phone.

Not that protesting will do anything anymore, that time has come and gone

remove the battery
Don't forget a portable heat gun, suction cup and prying tools. /j
- Please execute in a dust and static free environment.
No offense but obeying in advance is fucking pathetic and it is what your last comment is doing.
Any civil disobedience does matter and changes alot more than you think. They also want you to think it doesnt matter, it does.
It is also dangerous to tell others protesting wont do anything, you are spreading fascist fears and you dont even know it.
This is the answer.
There's just no fucking way you should go to a protest with your daily driver, secure or not.
I also wouldn't go without any form of communication. You need to be able to receive information from organisers. Maybe go with a buddy who has a burner and not take anything yourself, but expect to get separated if you're in a larger group.
I personally wouldn't be too spooked beyond that, but of course it depends on the level of "activism" you're going to be involved in. As in I wouldn't dick around taking the battery out, and I'd save relevant contacts in the phone.
They're not going to go all CSI miami on your device and your contacts. If they ask you to unlock your phone they will just be looking for selfies of you doing something incriminating.
- Epoxy the usb port or otherwise eliminate any usb communication so they can't get in that way. And only use wireless charging
There are forms of protest beyond just going on a parade through town
I disagree about saving numbers, you should add your emergency contacts and anyone you went with in case you get separated or shit goes down
- Or just... memorize them?
  (Does nobody do that anymore?)

Do not bring your phone with you to a protest.

If you really need a phone on you, get a burner phone with a prepaid card not linked to your person. But remember, MITM attacks are possible and the police can intercept your traffic and in some cases even compromise your E2EE services (if the key exchange takes place on a compromised spoofed network, see stingrays [1]).

If communication is necessary, get a meshtastic device. It's not the most reliable, and the channels can be jammed, but no one will bother with that. Because they work on usual IoT/smart home appliances frequencies, there is so much interference in cities that triangulating your position in a crowd of people isn't very realistic.

[1] https://theintercept.com/2020/07/31/protests-surveillance-stingrays-dirtboxes-phone-tracking/

Bringing extra meshtastic nodes to a protest could be really helpful. Extra nodes would allow information to more easily find a clear path out of a hot zone to routers in safer locations, and it’d do so without using any telecom infrastructure. The encryption’s pretty good too.
Yes the article says to leave your phone if you can, and to use a burner phone otherwise.
I’ve been using my old(cleaned installed) pixel 1 & 3 with my R1 meshtastics during this recent protests. Very helpful.
- I'll have to look into this. I have an old Pixel 4a I use occasionally, and it'd be nice to make it more useful

Don't take your phone to a protest

Bring an old point and shoot digital camera though. Pics and video might keep you from getting locked up.
- If it came to that, the SD card would be confiscated and/or the camera smashed.

What a boring dystopian article. It’s sad, but necessary.

purchase and use a burner phone instead, and only turn it on when you’re at the site of the demonstration

This should be the de facto response. In addition, I’d suggest not using your personal phone for any protest related communications and stick with burners no matter how much you may trust the organizers.

Please accept this cookie before learning how to not be tracked :/

Can we revive radios?

I mean, yes they can triangulate transmissions, but (As far as I know) they don't have IMEIs, and you talk in code to obscure meanings.

You turn it off before going home, and there's no tracking, don't transmit from home and its fine.

For evidence, bring a camera.

For a good compromise, use Meshtastic. Long-range radio mesh network for texting that phones can use instead of cell networks.
You'll need to make sure you encrypt your radios which might be illegal depending on your country.
One good thing about a phone over a camera is automatic backup. If you have a burner smartphone uploading all of your images to Dropbox (or whatever) as you take them, and then you think your phone is about to get taken, you can wipe it or even destroy it without losing the photos. Not so a camera.
Also, a cheap burner phone is way cheaper than pretty much any standalone camera on the market. It's hard to find a point and shoot digital camera (or any type of film camera) these days that isn't super pricey, because they've become hobbyist items.

Burners

The Hated One is another good resource on these topics. The guy is a paranoid and has an extreme threat model, but the information is still on point. Worth watching and sharing.

Got a specific video you could suggest from them?
- How To be Anonymous In A Protest | Burner Phone Tutorial
  I think this one is pretty good. Pretty good explanation of how a protester might leave digital information and what to do about it.

Step 1: Dont take your phone

How To Secure Your Phone

Leave it at home

Why is this even an article? Do not bring your phone to protests, especially under a republican president, especially one like Trump.

You need a phone, just not yours
- you do not need a phone at a protest. and do not buy a burner phone either, because even if you pay with cash, they can track you. there are a few hackers that have gotten caught this way. every phone sold has the location it was sold, and when, recorded. at that point, it's trivial for law enforcement to ask for camera footage that shows who bought the phone.

Remember, when iPhones are off, they just become Airtags. Most modern phones are sending/receiving BLE signals even if you don't expressly intend them to. I wouldn't go anywhere near a protest with anything besides degoogled Android, because its the only OS where you can actually disable the radios. Even then I would probably opt for a Faraday bag.

Other considerations... Apple (and probably Google) devices are doing client side scanning of images and turning on GPS to geotag images unless you specifically disabled that features. In other words, there are ways you can be correlated to locations and activities after the fact. Just ask all those J6 rioters.

Write down your name and ICE information with a sharpie on your body. Use a rugged phone case.

Don’t bother going to peaceful protests, they don’t work against post-truth authoritarian governments.

Going to peaceful protests are useful because it can help you meet some more like-minded folks.
Not to mention sometimes a protest starts peaceful and then goes to shit.
- I participated in plenty of protests but haven’t made any acquaintances. I think internet is a better space for meeting people.
  Not to mention sometimes a protest starts peaceful and then goes to shit.
  Taking a look at the Tesla protests it’s just no-impact feel-good thing. Liberals have too much of disdain for non-economic violence.
- Not to mention sometimes a protest starts peaceful and then goes to shit.
  That usually means there are infiltrated agitators.
- I participated in the biggest protests since the fall of Russian occupation in my country. I helped people organise and prepare, I joined a political party and ran in local elections. Results? None, because there was no path to those and leadership up top is mostly concerned about their position. It was actual virtue signalling even though I hate everyone who uses this term.
  What is your plan exactly? There is raising awareness but are you actually convincing anyone? Is someone unaware of what’s happening? What I’m seeing is that libs assume everything Trump supporters say is wrong and vice versa, there’s no discussion so how can any of you convince each other? It was similar here and we’re still stuck with this setup. In a polarised world people picked their sides based on criteria that were important to them and then pulled into a boxing match between liberals and fascists. You could have even agreed on some things but you hate each others guts to the point where you assume all positions of your political football team. If you engage in those ineffective ways of political activism you’re just going to have people run out of steam for nothing.

I want to see articles about attending revolts!

https://www.mobilize.us/indivisible/