{"id":46983,"date":"2026-01-08T17:50:51","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T17:50:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/?p=46983"},"modified":"2026-01-08T17:50:51","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T17:50:51","slug":"how-to-protest-safely-surveillance-digital-privacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/2026\/01\/08\/how-to-protest-safely-surveillance-digital-privacy\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Protest Safely in the Age of Surveillance"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"paywall\">If you insist on using biometric unlocking methods to have faster access to your devices, keep in mind that some phones have an emergency function to disable these types of locks. Hold the wake button and one of the volume buttons simultaneously on an iPhone, for instance, and it will lock itself and require a passcode to unlock rather than FaceID or TouchID, even if they\u2019re enabled. Most devices also let you take photos or record video without unlocking them first, a good way to keep your phone locked as much as possible.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"paywall\">Your Face<\/h2>\n<p class=\"paywall\">Face recognition has become one of the most powerful tools to identify your presence at a protest. Consider wearing a face mask and sunglasses to make it far more difficult for you to be identified by face recognition in surveillance footage or social media photos or videos of the protest. Fight for the Future\u2019s Greer cautions, however, that the accuracy of the most effective face recognition tools available to law enforcement remains something of an unknown, and a simple surgical mask or KN95 may no longer be enough to defeat well-honed face-tracking tech.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">If you\u2019re serious about not being identified, she says, a full-face mask may be far safer\u2014or even a Halloween-style one. \u201cI&#8217;ve seen people wear funny cosplay-style cartoon masks or mascot suits or silly costumes,\u201d says Greer, offering as an example Donald Trump and Elon Musk masks that she\u2019s seen protesters wear at Tesla Takedown protests against Musk and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). \u201cThat&#8217;s a great way to defy facial recognition and also make the protest more fun.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">You should also consider the clothes you\u2019re wearing before you head out. Colorful clothing or prominent logos makes you more recognizable to law enforcement and easier to track. If you have tattoos that make you identifiable, consider covering them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">Greer cautions, though, that preventing determined surveillance-empowered agencies from learning the mere fact that you attended a protest at all is increasingly difficult. For those of you in the most sensitive positions\u2014such as undocumented immigrants at risk of deportation\u2014she suggests that you consider staying home rather than depend on any obfuscation technique to mask their presence at an event.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">Another factor to weigh is your mode of transportation. Driving a car to a protest\u2014whether it&#8217;s yours or someone else&#8217;s\u2014can expose you to surveillance from automatic license plate readers, or ALPRs, which can be used to pinpoint a vehicle\u2019s movements. You should also be aware that, in addition to license plates, these ALPRs can detect other words and phrases, including those on bumper stickers, signs, and even T-shirts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">More broadly, everyone who attends a protest needs to consider\u2014perhaps more than ever before\u2014what their tolerance for risk might be, from mere identification to the possibility of arrest or detention. \u201cI think it&#8217;s important to say that protesting in the US now comes with higher risks than it used to\u2014it comes with a real possibility of physical violence and mass arrest,\u201d says Danacea Vo, the founder of Cyberlixir, a cybersecurity provider for nonprofits and vulnerable communities. \u201cEven just compared to protests that happened last month, people were able to just show up barefaced and march. Now things have changed.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"paywall\">Your Online Footprint<\/h2>\n<p class=\"paywall\">Though most privacy and security considerations for attending an in-person protest naturally relate to your body, any devices you bring with you, and your physical surroundings, there are a set of other factors to think about online. It\u2019s important to understand how posts on social media and other platforms before, during, or after a protest could be collected and used by authorities to identify and track you or others. Simply saying on an online platform that you are attending or attended a protest puts the information out there. And if you take photos or videos during a protest, that content could be used to expand law enforcement\u2019s view of who attended a protest and what they did while there, including any strangers who appear in your images or footage.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">Authorities can come to your online presence by looking for information about you in particular, but can also arrive there using bulk data analysis tools like Dataminr that offer law enforcement and other customers real-time monitoring connecting people to their online activity. Such tools can also surface past posts, and if you\u2019ve ever made violent comments online or alluded to committing crimes\u2014even as a joke\u2014law enforcement could discover the activity and use it against you if you are questioned or arrested during a protest. This is a particular concern for people living in the US on visas or those whose immigration status is tenuous. The US State Department has said explicitly that it is monitoring immigrants\u2019 and travelers\u2019 social media activity.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n#Protest #Safely #Age #Surveillance<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you insist on using biometric unlocking methods to have faster access to your devices, keep in mind that some&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":46984,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mzansi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46983"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46983\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46985,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46983\/revisions\/46985"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}