As protests continue — and hopefully, continue to grow — there are some things to take into consideration.
First, it’s possible to quickly get striking, good looking signs inexpensively. I outlined how I made these superhero-themed signs back into 2018 in a blog post for about $5 each in this blog post: https://ideatrash.net/2018/03/howto-get-striking-and-inexpensive-foa.html
However, the other thing to consider is digital security. ActivistChecklist and The Markup have good resources; I did something slightly different though, and I thought I’d outline that as well.
I had purchased an old Android phone a while back to serve as a barometric pressure sensor off of eBay; I’d won that bid for about $30. It doesn’t have a SIM card, which means that it can only use wifi, but also isn’t tied to me in any way through the cell modem. That wasn’t a problem for my original use for it, but also meant that the guidelines above had to be modified somewhat.
The basic guidelines — turning off biometric unlocking and a lengthy PIN — still hold. I also put my emergency contact phone numbers as the “owner information” on the Android lock screen, so that the numbers are visible without unlocking the phone. (The process may vary from model to model, but some guides and examples are here and here, or you can create a lockscreen photo that has the appropriate information. This is an adjunct to writing those numbers on your arm with a permanent marker.
I installed Organic Maps for directions (because I suck at land navigation). It works completely offline without any problems whatsoever, including looking up points of interest that are already on the map. It’s good enough for regular use as well, in my opinion.
The biggest problem/hurdle is communication. Without a SIM card, you’re reliant on bluetooth or wifi to send or receive data. I did not install Bridgefy — partially because of the required Google login, but more importantly, because it kept crashing. I also tried Briar, but while it installed fine, and even was able to add contacts between this phone and my regular one, no messages got back and forth either via wifi or bluetooth. Signal, my normal go-to, was unfortunately out of the question, because it seemed very unhappy trying to link a second phone as a device. So I ended up putting DeltaChat on this secondary phone, which while meaning I’d be reliant on wifi, does have encryption and can also just use email as a back end as well. Worst case scenario, it’s like I’m back in the 1990s, oh well.
I also have an XMPP server running that could also provide encryption via Conversations. I also have a Matrix server on a homelab that can bridge connections to other networks (including SMS and Signal) as well. While there’s a small break in the E2E encryption with that setup, that break happens entirely and only on a computer entirely under my control that’s sitting in a reasonably secure location. (Also, I think I can enable it, but I haven’t, since it’s literally just me on there.)
After doing all of that, I disabled and deactivated and force-stopped every other bit of Samsung and Google installed on the phone that I could.
I’m perfectly aware that this is not a perfect or impenetrable setup. Ultimately, the best digital security here is to not take your phone at all and rely on paper maps if needed. I made compromises based on my technical ability and how much inconvenience I am willing to accept in the name of security. I’d compare this to locking your doors at night instead of leaving the front door wide open. Someone can still break in, but it’s not trivial for them to do so.
Your security requirements, technical ability, and resources will vary from mine. Mine may change as the environment in the US becomes worse.
But take the time to consider what you are able to do and are comfortable with doing instead of walking to a protest or other action with your digital front door entirely open.
Featured Image by Darwin Laganzon from Pixabay