Nothing is a hundred percent foolproof, but you can at least make it more trouble to access your information than that information is worth.
The Basics
Phones and other devices are key tools for Legal Observers at actions, so here are some tips to do just that.
- Turn off Siri or Google Assistant.
- Make sure your phone does not use biometrics to unlock it. Use a password and not your fingerprints or face recognition.
- Turn on one button lock down, or make sure you have a really short time out that locks your phone.
- Turn off notification previews on your lock screen.
- Turn off any information being sent to companion devices (e.g. Apple watch).
Recommended Software for MDC Legal Observers
There are many options for secure note taking, but if you are going to be exchanging those notes with other MDC observers, the two easiest options are either using Turtl, or the Note to Self function in Signal.
Turtl
Turtl is a great tool for sharing documents that you want to have more security than Google Drive. It’s also a lot easier to organize your notes then the note to self function in Signal. However, while on the ground, you may want to use Signal temporarily, and then transfer it to Turtl.
Caveat! If you are going to use Turtl, make sure that you set a pass phrase that you’re going to remember, because there is no Forgot Password option to get back in. Once it’s gone, it’s gone, and all your notes with it. Signal
If you are on an MDC Legal Support team, you will be using Signal to communicate with the other team members on-site and off. We are not going to go into how to install and configure it, since there are lots of guides with that information, including the Electronic Frontiers Foundation:
A word to the wise: There are a lot of knockoffs with “Signal” in the name, so make sure you choose the app from the Signal Foundation.
Why Signal
In addition to secure calling and chat, here are some handy features that make it of particular interest to activists and support:
NOTE TO SELF
Before you do anything else, we recommend that you find and send yourself a quick message. That way, if you have need of saving a quick message for yourself with the same level of security as your communications with others, you won’t have to search for the window.
Tap the Compose icon (pencil) and choose “Note to Self” from the contacts list. Type whatever you like in the message so that the option readily appears in your recents list. And yes, you can set the messages to disappear, as you can with other communications.
TAKING ENCRYPTED PHOTOS IN SIGNAL
Photos taken in Signal are not part of your camera roll, and instead are stored in an encrypted manner. But, as with any other app, the person who you send the photo to can save them if they want, so it’s important that you trust them.
An easy way around this is to send yourself the images, using the Notes to Self function. Click the little camera icon, then remember to click send, or it’s not actually being captured.
DISAPPEARING PHOTOS
in the bottom left corner of the photo editing screen, so that it turns to the 1 in a circle before you hit send.
PLEASE NOTE: The photo is automatically deleted from your account when you use this option. EDITING PHOTOS IN SIGNAL
Signal gives you access to some standard photo editing functions, such as: cropping images, highlighting parts, underlining or circling parts of the image, and adding text (or stickers) before you send images.
But it also has more features.
You are not restricted to editing photos that you take within Signal. Open a photo or any other graphic stored on your device and edit those (e.g. images that you’ve taken on your regular phone camera or downloaded).
You can also edit an image taken by Signal in one conversation or group, as you forward it to another conversation/group. This is especially perfect for times when you want to keep an unaltered version of a secure photo for yourself. Use the Note to Self option to take the image, then use the forwarding function to send it to the person or group you want to have the edited copy. Make any edits to the photos before hitting send.
BLURRING FACES AND DETAILS
The editing feature you are most likely to need is the face-blurring option. You can, in fact, blur anything you want with it, though the automatic option tries to isolate faces and blur them. (It’s not very good at recognizing people wearing masks, just so you know, so for the foreseeable future, you’ll probably want to do it manually.)
To blur a photo, choose the icon that looks like a pseudo-cross or a flower inside a circle (see the image above), then either use the automatic blur function switch below the image, or use your finger or stylus to choose which areas to obscure.
The photo to the left (or below if you are on a phone) shows the blurred face to the bottom left. (The unblurred photo is farther up in this post.)
More Information
If you are not an MDC Legal Observer, you can still find out more about how we use Signal at one of our extended Know Your Rights trainings.
Follow us on social media to find out when the next training session will take place.