How to Protest Safely: What to Bring, What to Do, and What to Avoid
www.wired.com
If you’re planning to hit the streets, here’s what you need to know.

Apropos of absolutely nothing, a few random pieces of advice that you may or may not wish to follow.

I would also suggest you travel to the protest on foot, or by public transportation. If that’s not possible, park a good distance away and walk in. If you’re ubering (or whatever), have them drop you at a business a few blocks away. Makes it harder to link you to the protest later.

Also get the number of a good lawyer and write it on the back of your hand in marker that won’t rub off. Pieces of paper can be taken from you. Your hand can’t.

  • some_kind_of_guy@lemmy.world
    3·
    2 days ago

    Test your faraday bag. And test all the radios. (can you see your phone inside the bag via Bluetooth, WiFi, cellular [on 3,4,5g], NFC?).

    I have one bag several years old that is leaky and stopped working. Some kind of hard case is probably more reliable. Real science-grade faraday boxes of all sizes and forms are available, but they are $$$.

    Know that there are a ton of alternatives to carrying a smartphone when you need to maintain comms, but they all have their own pros and cons and most come with a monetary cost and a learning curve, depending on the tech.

    • +1 to meshtastic. This seems like the gold standard right now of accessibility and function
    • Alternatively, you could get a Ham license (or not, because not wanting to be in a federal db is completely understandable).
    • CB is still a thing. It does not have any privacy features, but it’s accessible and basically unregulated if you’re not being egregious
    • Learn how to set up 2-way encrypted DMR. (Note that encryption on Ham bands is technically not legal, but pretty much impossible to enforce unless you’re constantly using it from specific locations and end up being fox hunted.)
    • Ham bands can be used in an emergency without a license.
    • There is GMRS/FRS. FRS is your typical “walkie talkie” that you can just buy and start operating. GMRS is cross-functional on the same frequencies, but a more powerful signal, you can set up repeaters and it requires a license. You can just buy a gmrs radio and use it though and no one will notice or care that you’re unlicensed unless they really look into it (since,again, the band is shared with unlicensed users)
    • Satellites unlock a whole different array of possibilities depending on where you are. (And they are actually more accessible then it initially sounds)
    • SSTV (images transmitted over radio. There are some fascinating and fun opportunities for steganography here)

    Whatever you do, if you play with radios AT ALL, and you plan to transmit anything AT ALL (listening/receiving basically anything is almost always fine) - get to know the band plan and where you’re allowed to play. always know your frequency/power level, be mindful of who might be listening in, and stay WELL away from government/military and even commercial comms channels. The airwaves are a really difficult place to regulate properly, but you will suffer the full weight of the FCC and others if you start causing problems there. don’t intentionally interfere with other civilian users either.