Protest Like a Spy: How to Keep Your Phone From Snitching on You 🕵️📵

For activists who want to fight the system without their phone becoming state's evidence.

🚨 Your Phone is a Narc (But We Can Fix That)

Your phone at a protest is like a toddler with a megaphone: loud, indiscreet, and guaranteed to embarrass you in front of cops. Let’s turn that digital snitch into a vault.

Why Care?

• Police use stingrays (fake cell towers) to track protesters’ locations.
• Biometric locks? More like "biometric betrayal" – cops can legally force your thumb onto your phone.
• That photo you took? Its metadata could dox your entire squad.

Anecdote:
During the 2023 Berlin rent protests, cops used WhatsApp group chats (yes, unencrypted ones) to ID organizers. Their phones became Exhibit A in court. Don’t let yours join them.

🛠️ Operation Phone Lockdown: A 5-Step Guide

1. To Bring or Not to Bring? The Burner Phone Dilemma 🔥

Option A: Go Full Jason Bourne

• Burner Phone: A $20 Nokia from 2007. Pro: No apps, no tracking. Con: Snake II distracts from protest chants.
• Disposable Camera: Hipster cred + zero metadata. Just don’t lose the CVS receipt.

Option B: Hacker Mode (Keep Your Smartphone)

• Encrypt It: Your phone should be Fort Knox, not a glass house.
• Android: Settings > Security > Encrypt Phone
• iPhone: Congrats! It’s already encrypted (thanks, Apple).

Delete Everything: Dating apps, Uber, TikTok. Your ex can wait.

Protest Hack:
Wrap your phone in tinfoil. Just kidding… unless you want to look super cool.

2. Passcodes: Ditch the Fingerprint, Embrace Paranoia 🔐

Why Your "1234" Passcode Sucks:

• Cops use tools like Cellebrite to guess codes in seconds.
• Biometrics = Betrayal: Courts let cops force your thumb onto your phone.

Set an Unhackable Code:

• Good: "CorrectHorseBatteryStaple" (long phrase)
• Better: "ACAB1312#" (activist poetry)
• Best: Random emojis. Try: 🔥💀🦄🌈
• GODMODE: Mix all of them: Corr🔥💀ectH1312orse#Batte🦄🌈ryStaple (well..)

How to Disable Biometrics:

• iPhone: Settings > Face ID > "Reset Face ID" (Sorry, Tim Cook)
• Android: Settings > Security > "Delete Fingerprint" (RIP convenience)

3. Signal Over WhatsApp (Or: How to Avoid Becoming a Meme) 📡

Encrypted Messaging Tier List: 
| App | Privacy Level | Vibe |  
|-----------|------------------------|-------------------------------|  
| **Signal**| Military-grade | The vegan, gluten-free option |  
| **WhatsApp** | "Encrypted"* | *Terms and conditions apply |  
| **SMS** | Literally a postcard | Boomer mode | 

WhatsApp Warning:

• Backups to Google Drive/iCloud are not encrypted.
• Green text bubbles = Privacy death trap.

Protest Comms Protocol:

1. Create Signal group before the protest.
2. Name it "Book Club" (🌹 1984 Reading Group).
3. Enable disappearing messages (1-hour timer).

4. Location Tracking: Outsmart the Stingrays 📍

Your Phone’s Inner Snitch:

• Cell Tower Dumps: Cops can request logs showing every phone near a protest.
• Google Maps Timeline: Literally a breadcrumb trail to your door.

How to Go Ghost Mode:

• iPhone: Settings > Privacy > Location Services > OFF (RIP Find My Friends)
• Android: Settings > Location > OFF (Bye, targeted ads!)
• Bonus: Activate Airplane Mode mid-protest. No signal = no snitching.

Anecdote:
At a Paris climate march, activists used Faraday bags to block signals. Cops got so frustrated they started yelling at pigeons instead. 🐦

5. Camera Safety: Blur Faces, Not Justice 📸

Your Photo’s Dirty Secrets:

• Metadata: GPS coordinates, device model, time stamps.
• Facial Recognition: Cops use AI to ID protesters from Instagram posts.

How to Document Safely:

• Blur Faces: Use Signal’s built-in tool (looks like a watercolor nightmare).
• Strip Metadata:

iPhone: Share > Options > "All Photos Data" OFF
Android: Use Scrambled Exif (F-Droid)

Copy- Post with Caution: Ask: "Could this photo dox my grandma?"

Pro Tip:
Cover faces with 🦄 emojis. Cops hate unicorns.

🚩 Protest Prep Cheat Sheet (Printable & Burnable)

1. Charge Your Phone (But maybe don’t bring it?)
2. Write Legal Aid # on Your Arm (Sharpie > TikTok)
3. Wear a Mask (Fashionable and anti-facial-recognition)
4. Scream "I DO NOT CONSENT TO A SEARCH" (Works 60% of the time, every time)

🔥 Call to Action: Fight the Man, Not Your Phone

Your Mission:

1. Share This Guide with your squad (but not via Facebook Messenger).
2. Practice: Roleplay "cop encounter" with friends. Bonus points for bad accents.

In 2025, Dutch students used these tips to organize a fossil fuel protest. When cops seized a phone, all they found was 200 cat memes. Be the chaos. 🐱💥

Stay safe, stay sneaky, and remember: The revolution will be encrypted. 🔒✊