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Protecting Your Phone at Protests

Loaded on Sept. 15, 2020 by Douglas Ankney published in Criminal Legal News October, 2020, page 50
Filed under: Protests, Cell-Phones. Location: United States of America.

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:

  1. SCOTUS ‘Shadow Docket’ Secretly Pushes Agendas, Issues Major Rulings Without Argument or Public Knowledge, by Dale Chappell
  2. The Junk Science Cops Use to Decide You’re Lying, by Jordan Smith
  3. From the Editors
  4. California Court of Appeal Grants Habeas Relief Over Failure to Instruct Jury on ‘Heat of Passion’, by Dale Chappell
  5. Attacking the Guilty Plea: The Art of Withdrawing a Guilty Plea, by Dale Chappell
  6. Fourth Circuit: Releasee Under First Step Act Can’t ‘Bank’ Extra Time Spent in Prison Toward Future Supervised Release Violation, by Dale Chappell
  7. New Hampshire Supreme Court Announces Defendant Not Required to Identify Evidentiary Support for Noticed Defense, by Douglas Ankney
  8. Sixth Circuit Reverses District Court’s Grant of Summary Judgment to Defendants in § 1983 Suit Against City and Police Officers, by Douglas Ankney
  9. Ninth Circuit Clarifies Use of Rule 60(b) for Changes in Law, by Dale Chappell
  10. Nebraska Supreme Court Announces Remand for New Sentencing Hearing Appropriate Remedy for Enhanced Vehicular Homicide Sentence Without Evidence of Prior Convictions, by Douglas Ankney
  11. Study Exposes Public Defender Plea Negotiation Practices and Suggests New Negotiation Theory, by David Reutter
  12. Colorado Supreme Court Announces New Rules for Awarding Presentencing Credit, by Anthony Accurso
  13. Government Agencies Expand Use of Private Companies to Bypass Constitution, by Casey Bastian
  14. California Supreme Court Announces New Time Limit for Habeas ‘Appeal’ Stages, Clarifying Tolling for Federal Habeas Petitioners, by Dale Chappell
  15. Defense Officials: Law Enforcement in Military Garb not Appropriate, by Casey Bastian
  16. South Carolina Supreme Court: Failure to Give Logan Instruction Not Harmless Error Where Evidence Almost Entirely Circumstantial, by Douglas Ankney
  17. Justice Sotomayor Raises Due Process Concerns Over Eleventh Circuit’s Use of Published Successive Habeas Denial Orders, by Dale Chappell
  18. Colorado Supreme Court: Prosecution Prohibited From Arguing Defendant’s Failure to Retreat Showed Lack of Fear, Undermining Claim of Self-Defense, by Douglas Ankney
  19. Seventh Circuit: District Court Abused Discretion by Denying Relief Without First Considering Recalculations Under First Step Act, by Douglas Ankney
  20. California Supreme Court Vacates LWOP Sentence After Its Recent Cases Clarifying ‘Special Circumstance’ Murder, by Dale Chappell
  21. Arizona Supreme Court Announces Cumulative Error Framework for Reviewing Multiple Instances of Prosecutorial Misconduct, by Douglas Ankney
  22. Indiana Supreme Court: Must Be Immediate Causal Connection Between Confrontation and Other Crime by Defendant to Negate Self-Defense, by Douglas Ankney
  23. Seventh Circuit: Sentences for ‘Non-Covered’ Offenses Can Also Be Reduced Under First Step Act, by Dale Chappell
  24. Ninth Circuit: Police Violate Fourth Amendment Executing Administrative Warrant Where Primary Purpose Is Gathering Evidence for Criminal Investigation, by Douglas Ankney
  25. Interactions Between Diabetics and Law Enforcement Can Become Life-Threatening, by Casey Bastian
  26. Fourth Circuit Grants ‘SOS’ § 2254 Petition Attacking Three-Decade-Old Murder Conviction Based on New Evidence, by Dale Chappell
  27. Washington Federal Court: Looking at Lock Phone Screen Requires Warrant, by Anthony Accurso
  28. North Carolina Supreme Court: Defendant Can’t Be Convicted of Both Habitual Misdemeanor Assault and Felony Assault for Same Act, by Douglas Ankney
  29. Michigan Supreme Court: Probation Compliance Check During Unlawfully Extended Probation Was Unauthorized Warrantless Search, by Matthew Clarke
  30. Medical Experts Publish Guidelines on SUDC, by Douglas Ankney
  31. Successful Alternatives to Armed Police Response, by Edward Lyon
  32. Tenth Circuit: District Court Plainly Erred in Giving Erroneous Constructive Possession of Firearm Instruction, Conviction Reversed, by Douglas Ankney
  33. Second Circuit: District Court’s Failure to Offer Explanation for Its Sentence Constitutes Plain Error, by Douglas Ankney
  34. SCOTUS Goes Live on Camera, by Jayson Hawkins
  35. Maryland Court of Appeals Announces Reasonableness Standard in Providing Advice of Rights to Non-English Speaking Drivers, by David Reutter
  36. Seventh Circuit: Rehaif Creates Defense and Invalidates Defendant’s Guilty Plea, by David Reutter
  37. Chicago’s Police Torture Reparations, by Jayson Hawkins
  38. New Jersey Supreme Court: Juror Excused After Partial Verdict Requires Mistrial on Remaining Counts, by Dale Chappell
  39. Policing and Racial Bias, by Kevin Bliss
  40. How COVID-19 Forces New Releasees Into ‘Survival Mode’, by Dale Chappell
  41. From Detroit: How Not to Use Facial Recognition in Policing, by Anthony Accurso
  42. New Colorado Law Kills Qualified Immunity for Cops, by Dale Chappell
  43. Minnesota Cops Use Contact Tracing to Track Protestor Networks, by Anthony Accurso
  44. When Police Caught Lying, the Spin Begins, by Edward Lyon
  45. Minneapolis: Use of Force Against Blacks 7 Times Higher Than That for Whites, by Kevin Bliss
  46. Risk Assessment Tools Perpetuate Inherent Biases and Prejudices, by Kevin Bliss
  47. New York Police Act With Impunity During Protests, by Kevin Bliss
  48. New ‘Barcode’ System Puts DNA Sample to the Authenticity Test, by Anthony Accurso
  49. Police Violence and the 14th Amendment, by Jayson Hawkins
  50. Police Unions Buy Their Way Out of Reform, by Kevin Bliss
  51. News in Brief
  52. Protecting Your Phone at Protests, by Douglas Ankney

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