Phone Settings You Need to Know Before Protesting

As tempting as it may be to just join a protest, a little planning can go a long way, especially if you’re going to take your phone with you. We talked about a useful shortcut that iOS users can use to keep themselves safe (and we have an Android version in development!), But there is a lot more you need to do with your device to keep you safe and secure.

Watch this video and then read the details.

Lock your phone

You may even be well aware of the various court orders that prohibit the police from forcing you to give up your finger or shoe in order to unlock your device for them , as well as your password . This will not stop the police in any way from trying or even persuading you to give out your login credentials in exchange for, say, processing you faster wherever you are.

You can resist police requests to unlock and search your device – they’ll need a warrant for that – but you also don’t need to make it easy for them. If you are going to protest, consider:

• Disable face / fingerprint authentication completely and set the phone to use a long PIN or password instead. This makes it much more difficult for the police to hack into your security system if they receive your device (with or without a warrant).
• Setting up encryption on your phone: By default, this feature is enabled on iOS and Android if you use a password. (On Android, you can check this by going to Settings> Security – at least on my Pixel 3 XL, which I use for all the steps in this tutorial. YMMV.)
• Reducing screen lock time to zero: This is convenient because you don’t have to constantly authenticate with your phone when you are actively using it, you can reduce the screen lock time to zero or much less time than what you usually use at home.
• Lock your SIM with a PIN: You set this on both Android (Settings> Security> SIM Lock) and iOS (Settings> Cellular> SIM PIN) . When you do this, no one else can impersonate you if, for whatever reason, they gain physical access to your SIM card. This is especially useful if someone is trying to break through the 2FA security that you use for other applications and services.
• Configure Secondary Authentication Whenever Possible: Someone might hack into your phone, but if you can set up a separate password, PIN, or two-factor authentication for your most used apps, like messaging apps, then you might have an extra layer of protection. How useful this is depends on the application. For example, my application Home Depot constantly generates an error because the code 2FA whenever I log in to check your account, whereas Facebook prompts you only for the initial user logon. If you have time to log out of important apps when things go wrong during a protest and your extra authentication is not sending a text message with a code to the very phone you are holding – block the 2FA app with a separate form of authentication too – then this is just another digital wall to overcome to see what’s on your device.
• Disable or Protect Your Previews and Notifications: Obviously, if someone takes over your device, they won’t even need to log in if all your incoming texts and other notifications are displayed right on your phone screen. Disable or set Preview to On Unlock on iOS ( Settings> Notifications ), or turn off Lock Screen Notifications on Android via Settings> Apps & Notifications> Notifications.
• Consider setting up screen pinning (Android) or Guided Access (iOS) : if you need to regularly access an app on your device, such as some mapping app that might help you get home, but you want to lock the rest of your phone for PIN or password, these two functions will allow you to “pin” one screen to your device. If you or anyone else tries to access the rest of your phone, they will need to authenticate like you. You’ll find Screen Pinning in Settings> Security on Android, and Guided Access in Settings> Accessibility for iOS.
• Find out how to instantly lock your phone: Both iOS and Android offer a way to quickly lock your device, forcing anyone who gets your device to find a viable authentication method. It doesn’t matter if you’ve set your device to lock immediately as soon as the screen turns off, but it’s worth keeping in mind just in case. On iOS (iPhone 8 or later), hold down the Power and Volume Up buttons at the same time. On the Emergency screen that appears, tap Cancel, or simply press the Power button again to turn off your phone. When you turn the screen back on, you will need to enter your password (or passcode) to log in; Touch ID or Face ID will be disabled. On Android, you first need to go to Settings> Security and click on the gear icon to the right of the main authentication option under the Device Security heading. Then you will see the option “Power button instantly locks” which you will want to enable. You also need to go to Settings> Display> Lock Screen and enable Show Lock Option. Then, when you hold down your device’s power button, you’ll see a new ‘Lock’ option that you can press to turn off Smart Lock, biometric unlock (face or fingerprint), and lock screen notifications.
• Log out of social media: As a general rule, if you don’t think you will be using it during protests, quit it. This includes Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, the email you linked to your device – anything that someone can use to turn your life into a disaster (or affect the lives of your fellow protestors) if they get your telephone.

But I can still be tracked, right?

Yes. If you are using your phone as usual, there are many ways that you can track and possibly face legal issues in this regard later, depending on what is happening on your protest. This includes using various social networking sites, uploading photos and videos (which you have not cleared of any identifying information, including timestamps), and even using your device to make phone calls, messages to other users, etc.

This is fine! I’ll just put my phone on airplane mode!

Well, it doesn’t quite work if you want to remain anonymous AF. It’s a great feature that gives you +15 against pissed off the flight attendant, but it won’t turn off your device’s GPS or prevent apps on your phone from associating a GPS location with whatever you’re doing. And as soon as you reconnect to the Internet, this information (invariably) goes to a variety of other sources on your phone : app developers, marketing companies, your phone’s operating system manufacturer, The New York Times , etc.

I must clarify that putting your device into airplane mode is really only useful to prevent real-time location tracking . This will not prevent your device from tracking your location, but at least for now, the police will be a little more difficult to deal with you. There is no guarantee that you will not be arrested after a protest, depending on what happens at your protest, what data is leaked from you, what other recordings may have been made about you at the event, how your device is related to the event, regardless on whether the police get your phone or online accounts, etc.

Also, before you get to the venue of the protest, put the phone in flight mode – if you are going this route. If you’ve already been there for ten minutes and then switched your phone to airplane mode, you can simply leave it on; if the police are smart, they will already know that you are there .

Ask a friend to help you take care of your phone data

In my opinion, the Friends System is an equally effective way to keep you safe during a protest. You will have to temporarily give up your privacy, but it will be worth it.

• Let a friend blow up your phone from afar: Tell your best friend, roommate, or loved one that you are going to a protest and you both have to agree on a check-in time. Thus, if you are not connected at a certain time, the specified friend can access the “lost phone” features provided by Apple or Google and erase the data from your device. (Yes, you can do that too, but I am assuming that you are involved in a protest and do not have time to click on your device to start the process.) If you go this route, Make sure you back up your device before heading out to the event, so it’s easy to restore it back to its previous state – when you get home.
• Share your location with a trusted person : If you don’t like the idea of ​​giving your Apple ID or Google login and password to someone else, at least give a friend access to your device’s location via Find My Apple, Google Maps (or Trusted Contacts “ ) or any other applicable application you may use. This will not help you keep your phone data safe if you lose your device or get confiscated, but at least your friends and family will know where you are or where you are.

What about a recording phone?

The best way to keep your privacy as private and secure as possible during protests is simple and obvious: buy a cheap phone with a recorder . All you need is a crappy $ 30 flip phone and a prepaid data plan that lets you send and receive calls and messages. If you’re going to a protest and don’t want to be tracked but still want to be able to communicate, wait while you’re away from home and work to turn on your new device. Use your phone as needed during a protest, then turn it off before heading home. Repeat if necessary (and destroy the SIM when you’re done – smash it yourself and then throw its corpse in a public trash can).

Looking for ways to protect black lives? Check out this list of resources .