Protecting Your Phone at Protests
by Douglas Ankney
As of the date of this article, protests continue against police brutality and systemic racism in the wake of the murder of George Floyd. While racism and police brutality are at least as old as America itself, Floyd’s death appears to be a catalyst that brought formerly silent folks into the street to march and raise their voices in unison demanding change. For the newbies (and for the veterans) who attend these protests, gizmodo.com offers these valuable suggestions for protecting the privacy of cellphones:
* Be sure to set your phone to require a PIN or password. The courts have ruled that it doesn’t violate the constitution if the police force you to unlock your phone using your thumb, facial recognition, or other biometric. But police cannot compel you to reveal a password or PIN;
* Be sure to set your phone to require the PIN or password to unlock it before EACH use. After most phones are unlocked, they won’t require a PIN or password again until after a set time of inactivity. Unless the setting is changed to require a PIN or password before each use, anyone can access your information after you’ve unlocked it;
* Disable any digital assistants. You don’t want Siri, Alexa, or Google Assistant to be vulnerable to snitching;
* Set your phone to Airplane Mode. This will prevent law enforcement from tracking you;
* Consider Screen Pinning. Android’s Screen Pinning feature (Guided Access on iOS) allows your phone to display one app while locking everything else. This can be useful if you have to hand over your phone to show identification, but you don’t want police to access anything else; and
* Back up everything on your phone. Protests can turn chaotic quickly. Your phone can be lost, stolen, damaged, or confiscated.
It has been well said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Most phones will capture audio and video even when locked. The ACLU offers an app that uploads footage directly to the cloud, so nothing will be lost if police confiscate your phone, break it, etc. Remember to charge your phone before leaving and check to make sure it has lots of available storage.
Take your stand, change the world for the better, make history, and record it for posterity.
Source: gizmodo.com
More from this issue:
- SCOTUS ‘Shadow Docket’ Secretly Pushes Agendas, Issues Major Rulings Without Argument or Public Knowledge, by Dale Chappell
- The Junk Science Cops Use to Decide You’re Lying, by Jordan Smith
- From the Editors
- California Court of Appeal Grants Habeas Relief Over Failure to Instruct Jury on ‘Heat of Passion’, by Dale Chappell
- Attacking the Guilty Plea: The Art of Withdrawing a Guilty Plea, by Dale Chappell
- Fourth Circuit: Releasee Under First Step Act Can’t ‘Bank’ Extra Time Spent in Prison Toward Future Supervised Release Violation, by Dale Chappell
- New Hampshire Supreme Court Announces Defendant Not Required to Identify Evidentiary Support for Noticed Defense, by Douglas Ankney
- Sixth Circuit Reverses District Court’s Grant of Summary Judgment to Defendants in § 1983 Suit Against City and Police Officers, by Douglas Ankney
- Ninth Circuit Clarifies Use of Rule 60(b) for Changes in Law, by Dale Chappell
- Nebraska Supreme Court Announces Remand for New Sentencing Hearing Appropriate Remedy for Enhanced Vehicular Homicide Sentence Without Evidence of Prior Convictions, by Douglas Ankney
- Study Exposes Public Defender Plea Negotiation Practices and Suggests New Negotiation Theory, by David Reutter
- Colorado Supreme Court Announces New Rules for Awarding Presentencing Credit, by Anthony Accurso
- Government Agencies Expand Use of Private Companies to Bypass Constitution, by Casey Bastian
- California Supreme Court Announces New Time Limit for Habeas ‘Appeal’ Stages, Clarifying Tolling for Federal Habeas Petitioners, by Dale Chappell
- Defense Officials: Law Enforcement in Military Garb not Appropriate, by Casey Bastian
- South Carolina Supreme Court: Failure to Give Logan Instruction Not Harmless Error Where Evidence Almost Entirely Circumstantial, by Douglas Ankney
- Justice Sotomayor Raises Due Process Concerns Over Eleventh Circuit’s Use of Published Successive Habeas Denial Orders, by Dale Chappell
- Colorado Supreme Court: Prosecution Prohibited From Arguing Defendant’s Failure to Retreat Showed Lack of Fear, Undermining Claim of Self-Defense, by Douglas Ankney
- Seventh Circuit: District Court Abused Discretion by Denying Relief Without First Considering Recalculations Under First Step Act, by Douglas Ankney
- California Supreme Court Vacates LWOP Sentence After Its Recent Cases Clarifying ‘Special Circumstance’ Murder, by Dale Chappell
- Arizona Supreme Court Announces Cumulative Error Framework for Reviewing Multiple Instances of Prosecutorial Misconduct, by Douglas Ankney
- Indiana Supreme Court: Must Be Immediate Causal Connection Between Confrontation and Other Crime by Defendant to Negate Self-Defense, by Douglas Ankney
- Seventh Circuit: Sentences for ‘Non-Covered’ Offenses Can Also Be Reduced Under First Step Act, by Dale Chappell
- Ninth Circuit: Police Violate Fourth Amendment Executing Administrative Warrant Where Primary Purpose Is Gathering Evidence for Criminal Investigation, by Douglas Ankney
- Interactions Between Diabetics and Law Enforcement Can Become Life-Threatening, by Casey Bastian
- Fourth Circuit Grants ‘SOS’ § 2254 Petition Attacking Three-Decade-Old Murder Conviction Based on New Evidence, by Dale Chappell
- Washington Federal Court: Looking at Lock Phone Screen Requires Warrant, by Anthony Accurso
- North Carolina Supreme Court: Defendant Can’t Be Convicted of Both Habitual Misdemeanor Assault and Felony Assault for Same Act, by Douglas Ankney
- Michigan Supreme Court: Probation Compliance Check During Unlawfully Extended Probation Was Unauthorized Warrantless Search, by Matthew Clarke
- Medical Experts Publish Guidelines on SUDC, by Douglas Ankney
- Successful Alternatives to Armed Police Response, by Edward Lyon
- Tenth Circuit: District Court Plainly Erred in Giving Erroneous Constructive Possession of Firearm Instruction, Conviction Reversed, by Douglas Ankney
- Second Circuit: District Court’s Failure to Offer Explanation for Its Sentence Constitutes Plain Error, by Douglas Ankney
- SCOTUS Goes Live on Camera, by Jayson Hawkins
- Maryland Court of Appeals Announces Reasonableness Standard in Providing Advice of Rights to Non-English Speaking Drivers, by David Reutter
- Seventh Circuit: Rehaif Creates Defense and Invalidates Defendant’s Guilty Plea, by David Reutter
- Chicago’s Police Torture Reparations, by Jayson Hawkins
- New Jersey Supreme Court: Juror Excused After Partial Verdict Requires Mistrial on Remaining Counts, by Dale Chappell
- Policing and Racial Bias, by Kevin Bliss
- How COVID-19 Forces New Releasees Into ‘Survival Mode’, by Dale Chappell
- From Detroit: How Not to Use Facial Recognition in Policing, by Anthony Accurso
- New Colorado Law Kills Qualified Immunity for Cops, by Dale Chappell
- Minnesota Cops Use Contact Tracing to Track Protestor Networks, by Anthony Accurso
- When Police Caught Lying, the Spin Begins, by Edward Lyon
- Minneapolis: Use of Force Against Blacks 7 Times Higher Than That for Whites, by Kevin Bliss
- Risk Assessment Tools Perpetuate Inherent Biases and Prejudices, by Kevin Bliss
- New York Police Act With Impunity During Protests, by Kevin Bliss
- New ‘Barcode’ System Puts DNA Sample to the Authenticity Test, by Anthony Accurso
- Police Violence and the 14th Amendment, by Jayson Hawkins
- Police Unions Buy Their Way Out of Reform, by Kevin Bliss
- News in Brief
- Protecting Your Phone at Protests, by Douglas Ankney
More from Douglas Ankney:
- Federal Court Holds Illinois DOC in Contempt for Failing to Remediate Substandard Healthcare, March 1, 2023
- $14,000 Paid by California to Mentally Ill Prisoner Who Alleged Repeated Maulings by Guards, March 1, 2023
- California Court of Appeal Affirms Grant of Suppression Motion Where Officer’s Pat Search of Defendant Based on High Crime Area, Baggy Clothes, Criminal Record, and Suspect in Separate Case, Feb. 15, 2023
- Ohio Supreme Court: Defendant Has Reasonable and Legitimate Basis to Withdraw Guilty Plea Before Sentencing When He Discovers Evidence That Would Have Affected Decision, Feb. 15, 2023
- Seventh Circuit: Defendant Entitled to Present Entrapment Defense Where ‘Some Evidence’ Exists of Government Inducement and Lack of Predisposition to Commit Crime, Feb. 15, 2023
- Sixth Circuit Announces Nonretroactive Change in Sentencing Law Is Not an ‘Extraordinary and Compelling Reason’ Warranting a Sentence Reduction under Compassionate Release Statute, Feb. 15, 2023
- Was the DNA at the Crime Scene Left by the Perpetrator – or by a Pet?, Feb. 15, 2023
- California Court of Appeal: At Felony-Murder Resentencing Hearing, Court May Not Deny Relief Based on Findings That Are Inconsistent With Previous Acquittal, Jan. 15, 2023
- Fifth Circuit: ‘Nonsubstantial Overcrowding’ of Vehicle Used in Transporting Illegal Aliens Insufficient for Imposition of Sentencing Enhancement Under Guidelines § 2L1.1(b)(6), Jan. 15, 2023
- Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court: Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Where Trial Counsel Believed, Erroneously, He Had Ethical Duty to Tell Prosecution Location of Key Incriminating Evidence Not in Counsel’s Possession, Jan. 15, 2023
More from these topics:
- Riot and Escape at Nevada Prison Lead to Charges Against Four Guards, Firings or Resignations of Top Officials, March 1, 2023. Guard Misconduct, Protests, Escapes.
- Police Departments’ Purchase of Tracking Tool Collecting Location Data Without a Warrant Raises Fourth Amendment Concerns, Feb. 19, 2023. Police State-Surveillance, Cell-Phones, Cell Site Location Information ("CSLI"), Electronic Surveillance, Fourth Amendment.
- Ninth Circuit: No Qualified Immunity for Detective Who Arrested Anti-Police-Slogan Sidewalk Chalkers, but Not Other Chalkers Whose Content Wasn’t Anti-Police, Even Though There Was Probable Cause to Arrest, Feb. 15, 2023. Protests, Immunity - Absolute and Qualified.
- Autistic Capitol Rioter Receives Probation, Not Prison, for His Participation in the January 6 Riot, Oct. 31, 2022. Disabled Prisoners, Protests, Mental Health, Probation, Parole & Supervised Release.
- Wait,What? Florida DOC Bans Tee Shirts Promoting Prisoner Visits, Sept. 16, 2022. Protests, Visiting, First Amendment, rights.
- Jury Awards $14 Million to Anti-police Brutality Protesters Brutalized by Colorado Police Officers, April 13, 2022. Protests, Settlements, Excessive Force (Police).
- California Appeals Court Reverses Dismissal of Charges Against Prisoners Charged in Pelican Bay Riot, Feb. 1, 2022. Prison Rebellion, Protests, Dismissal.
- How Law Enforcement Get Past Phone Encryption, Nov. 15, 2021. Cell-Phones.
- NYPD Training Deprioritizes First Amendment Education in Policing Protests, Nov. 15, 2021. Protests, First Amendment, Police Department Manuals.
- Company Surveils Activists Opposing Construction of Prisons and Jails, Nov. 1, 2021. Protests, Electronic Surveillance, Social Media.