Prepping & Protesting

Matt Black - September 5, 2020

Advice

No matter where you lie on the political spectrum, you or someone you love, or care about, or know may consider attending a protest. Make sure that you (or that certain special someone) is prepared in every respect; know how to do so safely, what your rights are (and aren’t), and how to protect yourself.

Digital Self-Defense

EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation), a California non-profit focused on digital privacy and free speech, has an excellent guide entitled Attending a Protest that may be of interest to many here -whether or not they may be actively engaging in protest.

The guide, which was been updated this past June, covers things to do before, during, and after attending a protest.  However, the guide also serves as a rudementary how-to for bolstering your individual digital security if you happen to be in an area of protest, regardless of participation.

Protesters’ Rights

The ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) has a great guide called Know Your Rights, which is informative whether you are organizing, attending, documenting, or are stopped by the police.

Protest Safety

Amnesty International also has some great tips on How To Protest Safely, what to bring, what to wear, etc.

Alternate Comms

[Placeholder for walkie talkies, ham radios, mesh networks]

Be safe out there.

7  

Great thinking, Matt. Thanks for sharing this. I bet we can all agree here that protesting (read: not rioting) is a sacred right for every political perspective. Plus, sticking it to the man is always fun, whomever the man might be for you. 

 

Thank you. As I like to put it, “Our right to protest is just one of the many rights I fought for.”

Left, right, or center, we have a right to criticize our government’s failures, shortcomings, or shortsightedness and we shouldn’t fear retribution for those calls for redress.

That’s how it’s supposed to work, right? That’s the thing we’re taught in school or is reinforced in our social comings and goings.

The reality is quite different and accessing those rights can literally depend on who you are, what you believe (or don’t believe), whom (or how) you love, the amount of money in your hand, or the color of your skin.

 

Great links, Matt! I just wanted to call out that EFF has a short downloadable version of their guide that’s meant to be folded up and put in your pocket. I scrolled right past it originally. Nice touch!

 

Thank you. I’m glad the information is useful. And I’m glad you scrolled back up! Lol

 

I also recommend:

– Writing the name of a lawyer & a family member on your hand, or on a small piece of paper you keep on your person (pocket, or in a shoe). In one of my shoes I also keep some money. I haven’t ever needed to use this, but it gives me piece of mind. 

– At the women’s march, cell phone coverage was spotty. Walkie talkies are a good thing to invest in, and if you’re going with a buddy, make sure you and your buddy have a plan in case you get separated. 

– Try to stick around the parameter of the protest… not in the center surrounded by people.

 

I didn’t consider spotty cell coverage as something to keep in mind. Thank you for that!

 

@Lyn & @Liz,

All really good points! Thank you. And thank you both for the reminder.

In the original post, I was going to mention mesh networking (because most people already have a mobile device and walkie talkies can experience interference, jamming, overcrowded frequencies -especially when everyone is trying to communicate) but truth is, I don’t have a really solid recommendation right now. That’s mostly because I have really strict standards when it comes to encryption, plausible deniability, mobile permissions, etc.

For the unfamiliar, a mesh network (in this protest context) is an ad hoc network that enables people to connect to each other via mobile in a localized space via bluetooth (or wifi) in the event cell service goes down. This is usually done by scanning a QR on a fellow protester’s mobile, or a sign, or other location. Wikipedia has a better explainer than my rambling.

Wikipedia > mesh networking https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesh_networking

Admittedly, I had wanted to continue researching [the software] a bit more before I dropped this in here, but life got in the way (as it’s want to do) and protests stop for no one.

If anyone else has practical experience (or recommendations) or a lead on a E2EE (end-to-end encryption) mesh app, please send it this way, I’d like to check it out. Otherwise, I’ll update the OP as needed.