Your mobile phone is one of the most powerful tools you can bring to a protest, but it can also be one of your biggest weaknesses. This year there have been many demonstrations across the US, particularly against aggressive immigration enforcement and the use of force by federal and local authorities – including the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis – where protesters used their phones video recordingdocument abuses and communicate with each other.

Phone data and usage are increasingly targeted by police and government agencies. The phones are also tracking devices that can be intercepted to monitor locations, match identities and survey text messages (the The FBI has threatened to investigate Signal’s encrypted chatstoo). While the safest move is to leave your phone at home, that’s not always practical.

If you want to secure your phone data, limit your digital footprint and protect your privacy while exercising your constitutional rights, here are some steps you can take.

If you are planning to protest or serve as a legal observer, here is some advice from American Civil Liberties Union and Amnesty International.

Make sure strong encryption is enabled

Your phone contains all kinds of information about you: your contacts, work address, photos, social media accounts, emails, stored financial information, and more. If your phone is confiscated, lost or stolen, you don’t want it to be easy​​​​for someone to get hold of that data.

As a first step, make sure your device is securely encrypted. MANY iPhones and Android phones Data will be automatically encrypted when you enter a passcode. Make sure it’s a strong passcode (8-12 random characters).

On Android, go to Settings > Security & Privacy > Device Unlock > Screen lock (or similar, depending on which device you own).

On iOS, go to Settings > Face ID (or Touch ID) & Passcode and tap Turn on Passcode.

You can double check that encryption is enabled after you enter a passcode. On iOS, go to Settings > Face ID and Passcode, then scroll to the bottom, where you will see the phrase “Data protection is enabled.”

On Android, go to Settings > Security & Privacy > More Security & Privacy (or similar, depending on your device), and look for the line “Encryption & Credentials” or similar that should confirm that the data is encrypted.

Turn off location settings

Location services allow apps and services to get the phone’s location via GPS. Turning it off will prevent that data from being accessed. You can find this in the Privacy & Security settings on iPhone and the Location settings on Android.

Turning off location services will also prevent location data from being saved in any photos you take. You can also manually prevent photos you take from including location information in their metadata, usually in the camera app or within your phone’s settings.

On iOS, go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > Camera to turn location metadata on or off.

For the most part Android phonesyou can disable location data for photos right in the camera app. Open the camera, tap the settings icon, and search Save Location (or a variation of that: Store location data, Location Tags), and turn it off.

Turn off the scan-to-unlock and touch-to-unlock features

Biometrics make it easy to unlock your phone and provide security during everyday use, but if your phone is confiscated by law enforcement, they may try to force you to unlock it using facial recognition or fingerprint readers.

This is a legal area that is still being worked on, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which says so guidelines for attending protests“Using a memorized passcode generally provides stronger legal footing to push back against a court order to force device unlocking/decryption.”

On an iPhone, go to Settings > Face ID (or Touch ID) & Passcode and turn off iPhone Unlock.

On Android, look for fingerprint or face unlock options Settings > Security and Privacy or Lock Screen settings.

Disable biometrics immediately for now

What if you forgot to disable biometrics and you’re dealing with someone trying to force you to use them? There is a quick workaround that forces you to use the passcode, even without resetting your phone (all phones require you to re-enter your passcode on reboot).

On an Android device, hold the power button and the volume-up or volume-down button (depending on your device) and select Lockdown. You may need to specify that the Lockdown option is visible. On a Samsung Galaxy phone, for example, on Lock screen and AOD > Secure lock settingsturn on the Show Lockdown mode option.

On an iPhone, hold the Sleep/Wake and Volume Up buttons for one second until you see the power, medical ID and Emergency SOS options. Then tap Cancellation. The next unlock will require your passcode.

Note that if you use this option, biometrics will only be disabled until the phone is next unlocked with a passcode. In a protest environment, it is better to disable biometrics as described above.

Turn off Bluetooth

Bluetooth, the short-range networking feature, is more commonly used to send music and podcasts to wireless headphones or communicate with smart devices such as watches and fitness trackers. But it also reaches locators like Apple AirTags and checks other nearby objects.

Turn off cellular data when you’re not using it

Your phone sends and receives a lot of data in the background — such as checking for updates, sending and receiving text messages, and receiving app notifications — which requires it to keep up with the constant chatter of nearby cellular towers. That traffic will identify your approximate location or indicate that you (or at least your phone) are at a protest later. (Note that turning off cellular data will disrupt any encrypted communications you may be using.)

While you are disabling cellular data, you should also disable Wi-Fi. Not only does connecting to Wi-Fi networks reveal your location, but it’s also a waste of battery, especially in areas with many networks where there are many networks.

Leave your phone at home, or get a burner phone

If you leave your phone at home, you don’t have to worry about all these settings. Another option is to get a prepaid burner phone to only use in protest and then turn it off before you go home (so it can’t be traced back to you).

Don’t forget about other devices

Your phone may not be the only thing tracking you. Your smartwatch can connect to cellular networks or store location data, and portable trackers like Apple AirTags are designed to relay their locations via Bluetooth. Consider putting your watch on Airplane mode and leave the trackers at home.

Take photos and videos while your phone is locked

It is likely that you use your camera during a protest event, and in addition to disabling Location Services so that GPS data is not saved in images, it is a good idea to use the camera without unlocking the phone. That way, someone who grabs the phone from you while you’re recording can’t access your data.

iPhones and Android phones include this feature as a convenience​​​​to take photos quickly. The camera is active, but other features of the phone remain unavailable. From the iOS lock screen, press and hold the Camera icon or swipe from the right side of the screen. Your model may also include a Camera Control Button or option to activate the camera using the Action button.

On an Android phone, look for the Camera icon on the lock screen. There may also be options for quick launch, such as double-pressing the power button.

And one last note about recording: Be careful when taking photos of protesters’ faces and sharing your images later, because law enforcement uses facial recognition technology to identify people in publicly uploaded or posted photos.