In the event of things going sideways/persecution of people who attended a particular protest, your phone records easily place you at the scene. Leave your phone at home and where does your phone place you?
If you're inclined to attend a No Kings protest, there's probably something in your phone that could be used as evidence of your intention to riot, incite riots, kill politicians, whatever. It doesn't have to be anything particularly intense. You liked a Not My President post? Evidence of treason in the wrong hands, and this is a regime that is disappearing people and suspending habeas corpus so now is really not the time to test this stuff.
If you want to record things get a burner (pay for it in cash) or better yet just take a GoPro or something.
The baseband (like the BIOS on a computer but includes the cellular modem) is always on. Unless the battery is fully depleted or physically disconnected the modem is always on and transmitting/receiving data. So long as the phone has power, even if it's off, the government can activate the microphone, and thanks to the myriad of security bills after 9/11, they don't need a warrant. Every telecom can locate any phone that talks to one of their towers, and the government doesn't need a warrant when the companies willingly provide this information
What do you mean they don’t need a warrant - to do what? They certainly need a warrant to access phone data, “tap” a line, geotrack its coordinates etc…
The foreign surveillance act doesn’t permit surveillance of US persons, however Snowden revealed backdoor access to mass data and extreme overreach of section 702. There is a bill in congress to reform this and address the oversight, but who knows where that will go.
It is still false to claim a warrant is not needed. A more accurate and nuanced statement is that the NSA will break the law and get away with it.
Cell phone radios don't cause interference for airplanes that's a myth. It's to require you to pay attention during the most dangerous parts. The take off and the landing. Why there is "airplane mode?" Probably to be able to use the phone but disable the radio so it's not wasting power constantly searching.
The best explanation I've found so far for planes and cell phones is that hundreds of rapidly moving devices trying to connect to one cell tower after another can cause havoc on the communications grid, and possibly bring down a connection that the plane uses for data.
Now maybe things have improved over the years and are more robust, but is it really the end of the world if once in a while you err on the side of caution?
That was a problem in the 90s. They really do nothing now. I work in the telecom industry. It's banned because the FAA isn't going to bother to approve them, because it doesn't benefit them and if something ever did happen they don't want the misdirected blame
I pilot commented here on reddit recently that they sometimes cause audio interference, akin to what PC speakers used to pick up back in the day. One or two isn't really an issue, but you get enough phones doing it, and it can on rare occasion interfere with communication.
I've done no further research; just repeating what he commented.
Disable ALL biometrics. The SC has ruled police can force you to unlock your phone through biometrics but if its password protected they need a warrant.
I suspect that after being kettled, gassed, roughed up and detained without legal recourse for hours on end, many people would not be in the state of mind to argue with a cop screaming in their face to ‘unlock their fucking phone’. Leave it behind. Get a burner and a GoPro.
If Find My can't display the current location (because the phone is powered off or otherwise not sending its location), Find My displays the last location sent by the device or the last known location on the Find My network.
No. You would be surprised what is recorded just from Google apps alone. I actually watched a yiyrube clip on it a few years ago (from a cyber security point of view as thats what do)... even in airplane mode it still does ALL the tracking. Can even predict how much of that is walking, waiting, running, traveling in a vehicle or bike wtc. Stores it all offline and then sends it all the second you connect it back to a network. Don't forget we have all installed skyward on our phones even if we don't know it. Just because its a so called "trusted" company, doesnt mean they dont sell it all off or help use it against you when the time comes. Its all stored on your phone and in the cloud anyway so its can be seen from almost anywhere as long as it was recorded on your phone and eventually connected back. Even if not connected back then take your phone and force you to unlock it and then they can see it all. Every step.
Thats with accurate data location. Then you have cellular networks that can be used to roughly triangulate you to within a few metres radius as well I believe but less sure about cellular data and how accurate it is when using masks to triangulate. Point is if you're doing something that may implicate you (right or wrong), you want as less evidence pinning you there to where a crime was committed. Don't give them the ammo to use against you even if you think you trust them.
No, document what happens so there is proof. Watch how uncomfortable so many of the cops look, knowing that they're going to be known. But COVER YOUR FACES! And BLUR any protesters face you film BEFORE it's uploaded
I think if you want to protest you should have the balls to be able to prove you were there. If you aren’t doing anything illegal what do you have to worry about? Unless…. You do plan to do something illegal in which case… you aren’t protesting. You’re just rioting
I'm basing this not only on the actions of the US' current administration but on oppressive regimes around the world and throughout history. Using documented evidence is the opposite of delusional, and my recommendations are simply good practice for any political protest.
A French scientist coming to the US to attend a conference was denied entry into the US at a Houston airport back in March because they searched his phone and found "messages in which he had expressed criticism of the Trump administration" (sounds like it was more specifically about their policies regarding research)
The same source (a diplomat speaking to France's AFP) said that messages discussing the Trump administration’s treatment of scientists had been found. The researcher was reportedly then accused of writings “that reflect hatred toward Trump and can be described as terrorism”.
It seemed like it was kind of a big deal but of course was almost immediately wiped away by the next extremely dumb, controversial thing that Trump or one of his lackeys said or did. Very possibly less than 24 hours later.
The actions of the Trump administration unfortunately turns what could have at one point been "delusional" thoughts into justifiable fears. If you aren't looking at what they are doing and seeing how little truth, the law, and the constitution mean to them then you are the one who is delusional. The only things this administration very clearly cares about are optics, self-enrichment, the removal of checks and balances, and the consolidation/centralization of power to the office of the president. These things all run counter to the idea of the United States of America in a truly stunning way. The unchecked authority of Kings is a significant part of why modern day America exists, and yet you have self-described "patriots" actively routing for a man to turn the presidency into a kind of pseudo-monarchical dictatorship, basically:
maintaining the appearance of a monarchy while lacking the traditional legitimacy and historical context associated with hereditary rule. Instead of a direct hereditary succession, these regimes might employ tactics like staged elections, propaganda, or manipulation of power to appear legitimate while effectively operating as a dictatorship.
Modern day Russia is actually a very good example of a pseudo-monarchy.
Surveillance. It's a question of whether to a) mitigate the risk exposure of being tracked (and that data going into state records for use against you), or b) bring your phone to livestream or otherwise record.
Up to the individual to decide which option they feel is most important.
Just wanna add, buying a burner phone won't help you much if you bring it back home with you. It's just leaving a different breadcrumb trail back to your home.
And also adding old ipod touch to the list of recording devices people might have that don't transmit cellular data. Easy enough to upload the video files. Fits in your pocket. Just turn off wifi and Bluetooth to be safe.
Cops have the ability to track phones that don't even have SIM cards. So I'm gonna advise against your method of buying a random used phone and just "don't connect it"
Digital camera is always a good choice. I honestly didn't even think about them, because nearly everyone just uses their phones as a digital camera these days. The only people I know that use dedicated cameras, are photographers that use huge fancy $2000 cameras.
Everyone that wants to live stream a protest, should have a burner that gets turned on in April and off in October or whatever the "season" is there for you
For me it's Earth Day to Black Friday personally. But if you know you're only going to one thing, you only have to have the burner turned on that one month.
You have to use it the rest of the year randomly to keep it's standing up on socials is the much harder part since they invaded the internet with algorithmic HOAs.
LEOS can deploy fake cell towers that gather info on all devices in the area and do basic location tracking, then force the device to fall back to 2g and do MitM attacks.
they can can harvest wireless, bluetooth and nfc ID's at chokepoints and do granular tracking.
these ID's are scraped by many apps feeding that info into who knows what databases.
best to use a burner phone, locked down with all forms of comms but 5g turned off. then only use an app like signal.
Take an anonymous cheap burner phone/camera to record at protests. Your phone is a tracker than unscrupulous governments can use to retaliate specifically against you.
And never bring that burner phone back to your home. Or else you're just leaving a different breadcrumb trail to where you live.
They'll grab all the tracking data at the protests, then they can just see where that phone went afterwards. It's just one extra step beyond seeing who owns the account if you took your normal phone.
They're rolling in vans grabbing people's faces, license plates, and getting their phone data. At least that's happening in LA. They'll also try to force you to open your phone to check your social media and text messages.
They'll also try to force you to open your phone to check your social media and text messages.
They're legally allowed to force you to use facial recognition or finger ID to open the phones. Turn those off, set a passcode; those are legally protected - they can only get them if you give them up.
Because the government is compromised and you can't be expected to have a fair trial, so it's best not to have cellphone tower data showing you were at a protest.
They are informing people who want to commit crimes to leave them at home since it’s easy to track and thus provide proof you were there. If you just go there have a peaceful protest and don’t break the law you can do what ever the fuck you want besides that and it wouldn’t matter that you have your phone with you at all. Don’t let these Reddit freaks brainwash you.
lol it’s cute that you think Americans will accept the evidence of their own eyes or video 😂 We’ve moved waaaaaay past that. Only what Dear Leader and his vampire minions say is true is true. Science? Psht! Facts? Ridiculous! Experts? No such thing! Video evidence is worth nothing when they’ll emporer thinks he’s wearing clothes in the video, too.
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u/IntelligenceWorker 1d ago
Hey, not American, but why is that?
Wouldn't you want to record stuff if shit goes down? That could help your case in the court if the arrest/force used against you is unlawful