The only fix to IMSI catchers/Stingray tracking of your cell phone is to not have your phone with you anywhere you don't want to be tracked. (or truly, get a burner phone you never turn on at home and paid cash for... very difficult to do).

@ai6yr Before we can even discuss phone tracking countermeasures, we have to understand the threat and the requirements. Having something with you in case of an emergency? Probably fine to just keep your normal phone, turned off before leaving the house. Maybe, if you want to be fancy, put it in a faraday bag.

Supporting a covert communications network that protects the users' identities? Much harder, and burner phones are only the start. Even the CIA finds it hard. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwGsr3SzCZc

Black Hat USA 2013 - OPSEC failures of spies

YouTube
@ai6yr That said, while it's obviously important to be cautious and aware of the risks of participating in protests these days, it's also important not to over react. We still have a First Amendment, and peaceful protest is still legal and not something that automatically makes you a member of the Weather Underground or the Red Army Faction.

@ai6yr For the record, I maintain a small set of burner phones that I take care to decouple from my identity. I do this mostly to understand how it's done, because day job.

It's a huge pain, expensive, requires lots of mental energy, and I really don't know if I've screwed it up in ways that would result in a 4am knock on the door if I were using it for anything consequential.

@mattblaze @ai6yr false identities are generally easier to maintain than zero identities

they fail frequently anyway.

hiding in plain sight and creating crowds are generally easier for the public/untrained

@mattblaze Yes, this is more "I would like to avoid being put on a list for attending protests which the current administration says are antee-ffaah and therefore I am a suspect"
@ai6yr Yeah. And if the message people get is "you have to be James Bond if you want to participate in protests", any semblance of being in a free society is long gone.

@ai6yr @mattblaze

Anyone remember the Belarus protest where the youth got the state to criminalize eating ice cream?

I'm not sure how much I trust this source
https://infopolicy.net/en/belarus-flash-mobs-and-the-ice-cream-revolution/

but it linked to this which is consistent with other stories i remember of the flash mob ice cream social threatening the regime.
https://web.archive.org/web/20070609164054/http://users.livejournal.com/litota_/115568.html

As I understand it the tactic of peaceful and ideally funny protests is to make the police state look like they are massively overreacting as way getting more people to support the protestors and turn against the regime.

Belarus, Flash Mobs and the Ice Cream Revolution

Andy Carvin написал в 2006 очень хорошую статью Belarus, Flash Mobs and the Ice Cream Revolution. Которую он удалил :) Updated 07/11/2023 Belarus, Flash Mobs and the Ice Cream Revolution Veronica K…

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