Like many Americans, I have been watching the Trump administration's agenda unfold with a growing sense of uneasy. Also like many Americans, I have found it extreme uncomfortable knowing that there is little I can do to help. But as I was laying in bed last night, unable to sleep, something clicked for me. I do have something to offer! Teach protesters and activists (the people who are in positions to affect change) about privacy and Internet safety.

In the age of surveilance capitalism, all of our data is constantly being harvested by companies like Google, Meta, X, and Amazon and sold anyone with the ability to pay. For most, this has a mild ich factor, but it's tolerable. When you see an Instagram ad for a product related to a discussion you had last night with your spose that Alexa overheard, that feels off, but it's a benign intrusion. It doesn't bother us enough to actually do anything about it. Advertisements are annoying, but they never hurt anyone.

This is true, but advertisers aren't the only people willing to pay for this information. Law enforcement can also aquire your data to learn who you are, who you know, where you go, where you spend your money, and what content you consume online. Why should you care? You have nothing to hide, right? Perhaps, but from this data, they can glean if you hold "problematic views" and pose a threat to those in power. Prior to Trump's second term, this might have only been a problem for true radicals because we still had rights to protect us, but now, this is a problem for anyone who might have the gall to stand up to Trump's authoritian regime. Reposting activist content on social media might just get you on a watch list. But in the current environment, creating activist content or attending protests might earn you a visit from law enforcement. This is because of the unimaginable power of the surveillance capabilities that the United States has been growing since 2001. Social media posts, purchase history, emails, text messages, phone calls, location data, facial recognition. These are all tools that can be used to identify, locate, and apprehend "problematic" individuals. This has a chilling effect on speech and activism against those in power because most of us aren't willing to stick our necks out if it means trouble might follow us to our front doors.

But the situation isn't hopeless. There are steps you can take to participate in activism and protect yourself from persecution and those are the topics I intend to cover.

1. Threat Modeling: recognize the tools the state can use aginst you and your exposure to them.
2. Evasive Tactics: learn what you can do to neutralize or mitigate those threats.
3. Discipline: avoid the common mistakes that can deanonymize you and undemine your evasive tactics.

Once you understand these concepts, you will be able to engage in political activism with minimal threat to you personal identity. Be advised, I am not advocating for anyone to do anything illegal (at the time of writing). However, this adminstration has shown us that the law is everchanging and open to interpretation. Things that I am advocating may become illegal in the future. If that is true, take comfort from the fact that nothing I will advocate for is immoral. Privacy is not immoral. Dignity is not immoral. Safety is not immoral. Resistance is not, and never will be, immoral.

#Activism #Protest #Privacy #Safety #Anonymity #SurveillanceCapitalism #SelfDefense