With the growing influence of Palestine Action and in the usa, Unity of Fields, it seems to be more popular these days for people to film or take photos during night-time actions.
Anyone who acts for liberation has my respect. Even more for those of you who refuse to be peaceful protestors. That's why I want you to get away with it.
Please don't film your crimes.
You may think everything is on CCTV already. The police can see it, the public can't. But more camera angles is still more information to the cops. Sometimes CCTV gets lost. Or it's so grainy it's pretty much useless.
You may think the benefits of showing other people how easy it is for them to act outweigh any risks. I get it. It's powerful to see people take matters into their own hands.
But every bit of information is another clue for the cops. They're piecing it all together over time, not just looking into this one action. The state's already watching the peaceful protests, the university lectures, the social media accounts, the town halls, and they're putting together a big picture of who's who in your local activist scene. Why give them more and risk your freedom?
Here's an incomplete list of things the police might get from that video, yes, even if every inch of your skin is covered up.
– Metadata. You probably already know about that. The easiest way for most of you to get rid of it is probably sending it to yourself on Signal and redownloading it. There's also programs like Exiftool. But even the video dimensions or how your camera processes light could set it apart from others. That's not metadata that an app will scrub away.
– Clothing. You're all dressed in black, no logos, but what about patterns on your shoes? Does your hoodie zip up? Does it have coloured strings? What exact mask or sunglasses or hat are you wearing? What backpack? Even the best blocs are never exactly identical.
– Gait. How you walk could be distinctive enough to arrest you for it. Yes, this has actually happened before. Bring an umbrella to cover up your movements if you know where the CCTV is. Dress in baggy clothes and change up how you move. Maybe practice that in advance.
– Skin tone. You probably don't have every inch of your skin covered.
– Body shape. Some people are more distinctive than others. Even if you're all the most average height, average weight, average everything possible, why narrow down possible suspects? Like gait, dress baggy and change how you carry yourself. Maybe consider slouching?
– Execution. The cops might not know how it happened until you show them. How many of you there are, who did what, who brought what, how you did it, what brand of tools you used, which of you is left handed, who has that nice handwriting, what surfaces you touched, what direction you left in, whether you left together or separately.
– Relationships. If you're carrying out a night-time action together, you're not going to be strangers. Within a bigger group, you probably stick closer to people you're closer with. If you're pulling off actions together, you've also been to protests or public events together.
– Timeline. You don't need metadata to guess the time of day. Environmental cues like lighting, shadows or background details could help narrow down what happened when.
– Witnesses. Someone could have passed by without stopping, but they saw something. Now police know to look for them.
– Account data. Again, you probably already know. But it's harder to share videos than text. Signal has a maximum file size. A lot of email services won't send or receive large videos. If you're working on edits with a group, someone could slip up, something accidentally gets onto Google Drive. If you have to share around incriminating digital files, reconsider. If you really have to, try physical storage encrypted with Veracrypt instead of putting it on the cloud. Overwrite it when you're done.
– Editing style. You probably edit videos and graphics in your own unique way. The programs you use, the visual choices you make. Post enough of those online and people could notice a pattern.
That's even if your bloc is as close to perfect as can be. Most of the time, people don't cover up everything. Your brows, part of your nose, some hair sticking out, a small logo somewhere.
Photos are easier to edit down, but any visual information is still information. The safest approach is always to leave the camera, like your phone, at home. Maybe someone else can grab those photos when it's safer. Even if no one does, you can always go onto your local counter-info site and tell the world it happened.
I've included a few suggested countermeasures. Here's some places where you can read about a lot more:
https://www.notrace.how/
– https://www.notrace.how/resources/read/how-to-submit-an-anonymous-communique.html
– https://www.notrace.how/threat-library/techniques/#toc-technique-forensics
https://www.anarsec.guide/
Submission