Chapter 14 - Protest Safety
I would expect a lot of protests in the near future in regards to SCOTUS. Here's a few (non-exhaustive) thoughts for those worried about protecting their privacy when going out to exercise their free speech rights.
First, DON'T take your cellphone anywhere you'd like to stay anonymous. Cellphones are very easily traceable - iPhones can still be traced if completely powered off (iOS 15+). All smart tags (AirTags, Tile, etc) should stay home.
In theory, most Android phones *should* be harder to trace if in airplane mode and Bluetooth is turned off. However, I wouldn't bet against there being some kind of weakness with that idea.
It isn't enough to just keep the phone off "unless you need it" - as soon as a phone registers to a network, you can be tied to that area through what is called geofencing. Network providers, Google, and Apple will all happily identify you in response to a geofence warrant.
Burner phones simply aren't practical - they provide a false sense of security. Even if you paid in cash and were able to activate the phone without using a credit card (very difficult), the store almost certainly still has you on a security camera buying the phone.
No messaging platform is entirely secure. Signal is better than most, but if you choose to use Signal, please follow these configuration tips - https://media.cert.europa.eu/static/WhitePapers/TLP-WHITE-CERT-EU_Security_Guidance-22-002_v1_0.pdf
Staying off mobile networks and only using WiFi isn't sufficient - as soon as you associate with an access point, that connection is saved to your phone. Also, if you use any Google or Apple services, they will receive notification when you connect to an access point.
DO NOT use Face ID or a fingerprint to protect your device - use a min of an 8 character MEMORIZED alphanumeric password. You cannot be compelled to reveal a password, but you can be forced to unlock a phone protected with Face ID, fingerprint, or a password that is written down.
Make sure your phone has all the most recent patches / updates to it - an older OS version / apps means forensic companies have had longer to try and break into it. While almost any phone can be broken into if sufficiently motivated, so make it as difficult as possible for them.
Don't take pictures or videos. All phones and digital cameras tag pictures and videos with a huge amount of information (location, type of phone, time of pic, some even include serial number of phone or camera) that can be used to identify you.
Stay the hell off social media. FB, Insta, Twitter, Snapchat, etc will be more than happy to turn over your information (including IP address) to authorities. And no, they don't need a warrant to get that information - an EDR (Emergency Data Request) is all that's needed.
Remember that toll passes (EZPass, etc) track your location. Any mass transit fare card that can be tied to a credit card can be used to track / identify you as well.
TL;DR, If you're going to a protest and are worried about your privacy rights (and the rights of those protesting with you), keep the tech to an absolute minimum.