Surveillance

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’re 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.

Your Face

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’s 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.

If you ’re serious about not being identified, she says, a full-face mask may be far safer—or even a Halloween-style one. “I’ve seen people wear funny cosplay-style cartoon masks or mascot suits or silly costumes,” says Greer, offering as an example Donald Trump and Elon Musk masks that she’s seen protesters wear at Tesla Takedown protests against Musk and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). “That’s a great way to defy facial recognition and also make the protest more fun.”

You should also consider the clothes you’re 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.

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—such as undocumented immigrants at risk of deportation—she suggests that you consider staying home rather than depend on any obfuscation technique to mask their presence at an event.

If you’re driving a car to a protest—your own or someone else’s—consider that automatic license plate readers can easily identify the vehicle’s movements. And, in addition to license plates, be aware that these same sensors can also detect other words and phrases, including those on bumper stickers, signs, and even T-shirts.

More broadly, everyone who attends a protest needs to consider—perhaps more than ever before—what their tolerance for risk might be, from mere identification to the possibility of arrest or detention. “I think it’s important to say that protesting in the US now comes with higher risks than it used to—it comes with a real possibility of physical violence and mass arrest,” says Danacea Vo, the founder of Cyberlixir, a cybersecurity provider for nonprofits and vulnerable communities. “Even just compared to protests that happened last month, people were able to just show up barefaced and march. Now things have changed.”

Your Online Footprint

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’s 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’s view of who attended a protest and what they did while there, including any strangers who appear in your images or footage.

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’ve ever made violent comments online or alluded to committing crimes—even as a joke—law 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’ and travelers’ social media activity.

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If there’s one thing the Federal Bureau of Investigation does well, it’s mass surveillance. Several years ago, then attorney general William Barr established an internal office to curb the FBI’s abuse of one controversial surveillance law. But recently, the FBI’s long-time hater (and, ironically, current director) Kash Patel shut down the watchdog group with no explanation.

On Tuesday, the New York Times reported that Patel suddenly closed the Office of Internal Auditing that Barr created in 2020. The office’s leader, Cindy Hall, abruptly retired. People familiar with the matter told the outlet that the closure of the aforementioned watchdog group alongside the Office of Integrity and Compliance are part of internal reorganization. Sources also reportedly said that Hall was trying to expand the office’s work, but her attempts to onboard new employees were stopped by the Trump administration’s hiring freezes.

The Office of Internal Auditing was a response to controversy surrounding the FBI’s use of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The 2008 law primarily addresses surveillance of non-Americans abroad. However, Jeramie Scott, senior counselor at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, told Gizmodo via email that the FBI “has repeatedly abused its ability to search Americans’ communications ‘incidentally’ collected under Section 702” to conduct warrantless spying.

Patel has not released any official comment regarding his decision to close the office. But Elizabeth Goitein, senior director at the Brennan Center for Justice, told Gizmodo via email, “It is hard to square this move with Mr. Patel’s own stated concerns about the FBI’s use of Section 702.”

Last year, Congress reauthorized Section 702 despite mounting concerns over its misuses. Although Congress introduced some reforms, the updated legislation actually expanded the government’s surveillance capabilities. At the time, Patel slammed the law’s passage, stating that former FBI director Christopher Wray, who Patel once tried to sue, “was caught last year illegally using 702 collection methods against Americans 274,000 times.” (Per the New York Times, Patel is likely referencing a declassified 2023 opinion by the FISA court that used the Office of Internal Auditing’s findings to determine the FBI made 278,000 bad queries over several years.)

According to Goitein, the office has “played a key role in exposing FBI abuses of Section 702, including warrantless searches for the communication of members of Congress, judges, and protesters.” And ironically, Patel inadvertently drove its creation after attacking the FBI’s FISA applications to wiretap a former Trump campaign advisor in 2018 while investigating potential Russian election interference. Trump and his supporters used Patel’s attacks to push their own narrative dismissing any concerns. Last year, former representative Devin Nunes, who is now CEO of Truth Social, said Patel was “instrumental” to uncovering the “hoax and finding evidence of government malfeasance.”

Although Patel mostly peddled conspiracies, the Justice Department conducted a probe into the FBI’s investigation that raised concerns over “basic and fundamental errors” it committed. In response, Barr created the Office of Internal Auditing, stating, “What happened to the Trump presidential campaign and his subsequent Administration after the President was duly elected by the American people must never happen again.”

But since taking office, Patel has changed his tune about FISA. During his confirmation hearing, Patel referred to Section 702 as a “critical tool” and said, “I’m proud of the reforms that have been implemented and I’m proud to work with Congress moving forward to implement more.” However, reforms don’t mean much by themselves. As Goitein noted, “Without a separate office dedicated to surveillance compliance, [the FBI’s] abuses could go unreported and unchecked.”

An annual transparency report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence shows that the FBI’s searches for Americans’ information has fallen. Last year, the FBI only used 5,518 query terms about Americans, compared to 57,094 in 2023 and 119,383 in 2022. While this looks like progress, it doesn’t mean that the Office of Internal Auditing’s work is done.

“The FBI should maintain its audits,” Scott said, “and if they do, the FBI must make very clear who is responsible for continuing the internal audits and ensure the oversight gets done.”

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How to Protest Safely in the Age of Surveillance

Your Face

Your Online Footprint

FBI Director Kash Patel Abruptly Closes Internal Watchdog Office Overseeing Surveillance Compliance