Filming ICE is legal but exposes you to digital tracking (opens in new tab)

(theconversation.com)

63 pointsccppurcell1mo ago13 comments

13 comments

Bullets. It exposes you to bullets.

nik2820001mo ago

Factory reset an old phone and leave it in airplane mode.

If it get "lost" or "stolen" you aren't out much, and it doesn't contain any personal information. If "law enforcement" gets their hands on it the only data it has is the IMEI and maybe wireless MACs, enough to ID you based on previous use but they would have to contact telecos and request the info. Current "law enforcement" seems too chaotic to spend time tracing the owner of an empty phone.

diogenes_atx1mo ago

For a detailed discussion about phones, personal data and anonymity, there is a good book written by a former police officer: Michael Bazzell (2024) Extreme Privacy: What It Takes To Disappear, fifth edition.

https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Privacy-What-Takes-Disappear/...

thomascgalvin1mo ago

I'm not an expert in digital footprint-hiding, but it's probably a good idea to replace / remove the SIM card as well. A factory reset will leave data laying around, just not accessible through "normal" means.

palmotea1mo ago

Or just buy a cheap point-and-shoot, and stick a giant SD card in it:

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/searchpage.jsp?browsedCategory=...

That's seems like an all-around better option than trying to make an old phone work like a point-and-shoot camera.

Krutonium1mo ago

On any modern phone, your phones user partition is encrypted with a key that is itself encrypted by a key stored in the CPU. When you factory reset, what's happening is basically the key in the CPU is deleted, then re-created. At that point the data on your partition is random noise, so a new encryption key is derived and used to format the partition.

Even better, modern Android then encrypted your personal data with yet another layer based on your password/key/pattern you use to unlock your device. Many layers.

Retrieving that data would be incredibly hard even for a nation state unless the encryption used was deliberately backdoored, and even then once the device TRIM's the space (which it likely does prior to formatting) that data is gone on a hardware level.

(TL;DR Can't move the memory chip to a new device, and even if you backdoor the OS you still need the users password)

orwin1mo ago

I thought it would expose you to death.

AstralStorm1mo ago

Seems like uninformed bull. Your recording is protected by the usual copyright. It may not be used without permission except as permitted by law. If the law is being violated, sue the heck out of the state.

Now if you post it on social media, make sure you read the content privacy policy. They often suck.

0manrho1mo ago

If you think an institution that doesn't respect the sanctity of life is going to respect copyright of all things you've lost the plot entirely.

palmotea1mo ago

> Your recording is protected by the usual copyright. It may not be used without permission except as permitted by law. If the law is being violated, sue the heck out of the state.

I'm not a lawyer, but I'm sure "except as permitted by law" allows for a lot of use by law enforcement "without [your] permission." And even if it didn't, it may not do you a damn bit of good. Lawsuits take a long time.

Also, it's pretty clear that ICE employs a lot of incompetent, poorly trained, and/or dangerous people.

estimator72921mo ago

It's also illegal to summarily execute citizens on the street. That isn't stopping anyone.

The law today DOES NOT protect you against the government.

mikestew1mo ago

If it weren't for the opening sentence, I'd swear this comment was meant to be sarcastic. So now I'm left with the question of how the hell someone could post this with a straight face.

threatofrain1mo ago

Only protection can protect you. If that’s the law then so be it, and if it’s not then so be it. But do not be surprised when your story of litigation fails to shield you from anything.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

13 comments

eur0pa1mo ago

Bullets. It exposes you to bullets.

nik2820001mo ago

Factory reset an old phone and leave it in airplane mode.

diogenes_atx1mo ago

https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Privacy-What-Takes-Disappear/...

thomascgalvin1mo ago

palmotea1mo ago

Or just buy a cheap point-and-shoot, and stick a giant SD card in it:

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/searchpage.jsp?browsedCategory=...

That's seems like an all-around better option than trying to make an old phone work like a point-and-shoot camera.

Krutonium1mo ago

Even better, modern Android then encrypted your personal data with yet another layer based on your password/key/pattern you use to unlock your device. Many layers.

(TL;DR Can't move the memory chip to a new device, and even if you backdoor the OS you still need the users password)

orwin1mo ago

I thought it would expose you to death.

AstralStorm1mo ago

Now if you post it on social media, make sure you read the content privacy policy. They often suck.

0manrho1mo ago

If you think an institution that doesn't respect the sanctity of life is going to respect copyright of all things you've lost the plot entirely.

palmotea1mo ago

> Your recording is protected by the usual copyright. It may not be used without permission except as permitted by law. If the law is being violated, sue the heck out of the state.

Also, it's pretty clear that ICE employs a lot of incompetent, poorly trained, and/or dangerous people.

estimator72921mo ago

It's also illegal to summarily execute citizens on the street. That isn't stopping anyone.

The law today DOES NOT protect you against the government.

mikestew1mo ago

If it weren't for the opening sentence, I'd swear this comment was meant to be sarcastic. So now I'm left with the question of how the hell someone could post this with a straight face.

threatofrain1mo ago

Only protection can protect you. If that’s the law then so be it, and if it’s not then so be it. But do not be surprised when your story of litigation fails to shield you from anything.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse