Essential Phone Security Tips for Protest Participants

In an era where protests are met with heightened surveillance and potential confrontations, securing your phone before attending is critical. Your smartphone holds a trove of personal data and can act as a tracking device, exposing your location, contacts, and communications to authorities or malicious actors if confiscated or hacked.

The first and most effective step is to consider leaving your primary phone at home. If attending is essential, using a burner phone activated only at the protest site minimizes exposure of your personal data. This reduces risks associated with forensic extraction tools that law enforcement might use on confiscated devices.

If you must bring your phone, back up your data and remove personally identifiable information. For maximum security, wiping your device clean and reinstalling only necessary apps is advisable. Keep your phone off or in airplane mode during the protest to prevent location tracking via cell towers or stingray devices.

Replace biometric unlocking methods with strong passcodes or passwords. Unlike fingerprints or facial recognition, passcodes are protected under the Fifth Amendment, preventing authorities from legally forcing you to unlock your device. Also, disable message previews on your lock screen to keep sensitive content hidden.

Encrypt your device to secure stored data. On Android, this can be done through the security settings, while iPhones enable encryption automatically once a passcode is set. Encryption ensures that even if your phone is seized, the data remains inaccessible without the correct credentials.

Use secure communication apps like Signal, which offers end-to-end encryption and does not store message metadata. For browsing, consider privacy-focused browsers such as Tor or Brave, and use search engines like DuckDuckGo that do not track your queries.

Activate features like Guided Access on iOS or App Pinning on Android to lock your phone to a single app. This is useful if you need to show something on your phone without exposing other sensitive information.

If your device is confiscated, do not unlock it. Changing your passwords and disconnecting accounts from the device as soon as possible can prevent unauthorized access to your online profiles and communications.

Finally, be mindful when taking photos or videos. Avoid capturing identifiable information of others without consent, and remove metadata before sharing to protect the privacy of all involved.

These strategies not only enhance security during protests but also promote safer everyday technology use. As digital surveillance evolves, staying informed and proactive about your device security is more important than ever.