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The Proton Guide to Privacy at Protests walks you through the steps you need to take to protect yourself while protesting.
“From Hong Kong to Minneapolis, Caracas to Los Angeles, civil disobedience has become more common, and people have taken to the streets by the thousands. The right to peaceful assembly and protest are bedrocks of democracy, and we support everyone’s ability to exercise these rights. We created Proton Mail to protect people’s privacy and freedom from encroaching surveillance. For this reason, activists around the world have turned to Proton to keep their communications safe from monitoring and attacks.
However, it’s important for demonstrators to protect their privacy offline as well. Governments are monitoring protests with increasingly draconian methods, like the thousands of CCTV cameras(new window) in Hong Kong, the surveillance planes(new window) flying over cities in the US, and the ever-increasing use of license plate scanners(new window). And as protests become more and more publicized, it is easier for anyone paying attention to identify protesters by watching social media for photos and videos. Groups who oppose your beliefs could use this information to “dox” you, or reveal your identity, address, phone number, and other personal details online.
Law enforcement also has access to advanced tools that let them identify and track protesters by accessing their smartphones. They can then use this information to make mass arrests, even picking up peaceful and nonviolent protesters.
Proton (and Leon County Indivisible!) firmly believe everyone has the right to peacefully voice their opinion, whether in the form of a blog post or a protest, which is why Proton compiled a guide that explains how peaceful protesters can protect their digital security.
As a Swiss organization, Proton is politically neutral; however, they are unequivocal in their defense of citizens’ fundamental human rights. Everyone, including protesters, has the right to security, privacy, and freedom. Peaceful popular protests are often catalysts for long-overdue policy changes. If you are protesting peacefully and you want to protect your privacy, you should:
- Scrub out identifying information from photos and videos
- Secure your phone (or leave it at home)
- Use end-to-end encrypted messaging and private email apps
- Be careful about posting on social media
Details for each of these steps is in the How-To Guide on the Proton blog.