Whether it is the expected massive turnout for the @PeoplesVote People's Vote anti Brexit march on Saturday 23rd March 2018, or a smaller Climate Change peaceful (yet traffic disruptive) @ExtinctionR Extinction Rebellion Rebellion event
here are a few mobile device Operational Security (OPSEC) and other tips, as everyone who attends will be under intense electronic surveillance, by the Police, UK and Foreign Intelligence Agencies, rival political factions , corporate lobbyists and advertisers etc.
via Mobile Phone network Location Data, WiFi snooping, Social Media platforms (Google, Apple, Twitter, FaceBook/ Instagram and advertiser funded mobile phone Apps
For most people this will not be a problem, but for quite a few out of the expected hundreds of thousands of marchers, there could be a risk pf
being targeted and harassed for their political activities or spammed by inappropriate advertising.
- Wear comfortable shoes (weather forecast for Saturday 23rd March is for only a 10% chance of rain)
- Bring non-alcoholic drinks (alcohol is banned in public on central London streets and Tube & Buses)
- No illegal drugs
- Know where there are public toilets, especially if you need disabled access c.f. The Great British Public Toilet Map
- Leave your normal mobile phone at home
- If you have a mobile phone on the Vodafone UK network, uou can at least Opt Out from Vodafone Analytics (which sells your Location Data to adverisers etc. who will then cross reference and try to de-anonymise it to the best of their ability)
by sending an SMS text OPT OUT to 68808 from each of your Vodafone devices (only for future data, not historical and only for commercial xustomers, not the Police or Intelligence agencies)
Not perfect, but better than the other UK mobile phone networks. - If you do bring an unregistered, cash bought prepaid SIM #burner phone for emergencies, keep it switched off except when needed. Don't activate it at Home or at Work.
- If you are using a #burner phone or just your normal smartphone to coordinate with your protest march friends only use an End to End Encrypted Messenger App e.g. @SignalApp or @WhatsApp *not** voice or SMS text.
- Turn off WiFi and Bluetooth whilst actually on the march route.
- Don't copy any Contacts from the SIM card to the phone handset (or vice versa if you are temporarily using a new prepaid SIM card - not ideal but better than your normal one)
- Only keep other #burner phone contacts on the prepaid disposable SIM card and the phone numbers of specialist civil rights solicitors who attend Police stations 24 /7 e.g. Bindmans in case you are unlucky enough to get arrested (or if this is a deliberate part of your civil disobedience action like some @XtinctionR climate change protestors)
- Switch off Notification previews on the the Lock Screen e.g. set to only display when unlocked, or never. This helps reduce the curiosity of people with a casual view of your phone screen.
- Switch off / disable access to Location services - both Android and Apple iPhone Apps and OS can blab your location even when not being used
Print out a Google map before you go to London or use an A to Z map or guide book - If you use "Free" WiFi e.g. on the train or at a restaurant / cafe or pub use a VPN back to Home or your Office or via a Foreign based Commercial VPN, when looking up the #PeoplesMarch route details etc.
- When you have finished doing this then force your SmartPhone to *forget* the any Home or Office Wifi connections and any "Free" WiFi you use en route, in case it blabs characteristic WiFi Probe Requests when it is "out of range, which can and will be logged by Advertisers, Retail shops, Transport for London, the Police and foreign intelligence services as you travel.
N.B. easier to do this on Android, but Apple iPhone users have to remember to do this whilst still in range of the WiFi network or else it is not displayed in the list to allow you to forget it. - Although you are unlikely to be arrested, there is a chance of being caught up in anti police demos which a few extremists will try to incite.
Remember most violence at London marches & demos happens *away* from the main routes and assembly place, often at night, after the official event has finsished, especially when alcohol has been consumed to excess.
Memorise or keep the phone number of specialist solicitors who will attend a Police Station 24 / 7 e.g. Bindmans +44 (0)20 7305 5638 or Kaim Todner 0207 842 0650
on paper or written in marker pen on your arm / hand - your phone contact address book will probably not be available to you if and when you need it, if you are Stopped and Searched or arrested and your phone is being forensically imaged. - If you are arrested or subsequently attend even a "voluntary" interview at a Police Station, even with your solicitor present, do not unlock your mobile phone as there have been cases of shoulder surfing of your unlock passphrase and subsequent seizure of activists mobile phones by the Police. Ideally only bring a "clean" fresh burner phone to such an interview.
- On your #burner phone or your switched off normal phone, ensure you have set a reasonably strong screen lock alpha numeric pass phrase (8 characters at least) - not a noddy 4 digit PIN or a pattern or fingerprint or face print. Hopefully this will deter "casual" snooping if you are merely Stopped and Searched by the Police.
Being arrested will mean that any phone you have with you will be forensically imaged. That could also apply to the phone(s) you have left at home if you are arrested for a *serious* offence and your home / office is then raided. - If you do use your SmartPhone or other Digital Camera to record the peaceful march, do not publish the images online without removing or editing the EXIF metadata, especiallu any Camera or lens Serial Numbers, which can be linked to your identifiable public holiday snaps.
Use Exiftool which works on Windows, macOS or Linux or an Android App like Exif Eraser
Ideally use a dedicated #burner phone or camera only for your political protest marches and demos. - Take spare batteries, charged up USB power banks and Android and Apple USB charging cables
- If you do witness violence or intimidation, call the police first and then video record it from a safe distance, unless you and your friends can safely intervene to stop it. Do not just voyeuristically record it without taking some action.
- Have a pre-arranged fallback meeting location agreed with your family or friends for if / when you get seperated in the hopefully large protest march crowds,
- Have fun
UPDATE: UK activists can learn some lesssons from the Hong Kong Protests where people are rightly worried about future State discrimination or repression against those opposing the current government on the streets.
- Even though the organisers of protests and demonstrations tend to use End to End Encrypted Messenger Apps e.g. Signal Messenger, WhatsApp, Telegram it is important to set these up on burner phones or at least using prepaid SIM card phone numbers for the initial social media account set up verification SMS mtext message
N.B. In UK you do not have to have any money /call time / data / text credit on a 99p prepaid SIM card to recieve such SMS text messages for free. - Hong Kong protestors seem to make good use of Apple iOS AirDrop to peer to peer share via BlueTooth & WiFi maps and protest literature locally within a crowd, without relying on potentially tracked centralised internet web sites or services.
- Hopefully there is no need for anti tear gas respirator masks and saline solution etc., but do consider facemasks or scarves and hats etc. to frustrate some of the CCTV footage and Facial Recognition processed data which will be directed against protest crowds and, as it is unregulated, will be stored into the future, despite the weasel words which say that the (irreleveant after big data processing) raw images are likely deleted after a month or so.
- As of July 2019, Transport for London has rolled out its WiFi snooping data collection all over the central Underground Tube stations. This data collection scheme targets not just people who take advantage of the "free" Virgin Media WiFi access points, but it also grabs and analyses the WiFi Probe requests which everybody else's SmartPhone makes repeatedly with your Home or Work or other "free" WiFi networks you have used and which are now Out Of Range. Whenever you are not using WiFi for messaging or navigation etc., then turn it off in the Settings of your SmartPhone.
- Transport for London hands over its data "in bulk, in real time" to the Metropolitan Police, often exempt from the Data Protection Act due to Ministerial Certificates citing "national security".Try not to use financially traceable tickets in London i.e. only cash (not credit or debit card) bought prepaid Oyster Cards or paper Travel Card ticketsand not the convenient but trackable NFC cashless payment Apps on your SmartPhone.
Why should I take OPSEC precautions, I am only protesting peacefully ?
Operational Security precautions only work forwards in time, not retrospectively when it is too late. It is likely that some near future demonstrations will become violent, if there are food or fuel shortages etc. after the Brexit crash out which the current government seems to be planning or cannot avoid.
Police, intelligence agencies and political fanatics will attempt to link future violence to past peaceful political activism, simply because the unregulated data is, or may be made available to them. You only have to look at the false arrests of e,g, drone hobbyists after the Gatwick Airport debacle in December 2018 to fear bureaucrats under political and media pressure to "arrest the usual suspects"
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