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SunSeeker

(57,876 posts)
Fri Jan 23, 2026, 04:30 PM Jan 23

Filming ICE is legal but exposes you to digital tracking - here's how to minimize therisk

Before you go, decide what you’re optimizing for, whether it is preserving evidence quickly or minimizing traceability, because those goals can conflict. Harden your lock screen with a long passcode, disable face and fingerprint ID, turn off message previews and reduce the risk of what you carry by logging out of sensitive accounts and removing unnecessary apps. Even consider leaving your primary phone at home if that’s realistic.

While filming, keep your phone locked when possible using the camera-from-lock-screen feature and avoid livestreaming if identification risk is high, since live posts can expose your location in real time. Focus on documenting context rather than creating viral clips: Capture wide shots, key actions and clear time-and-place markers, and limit close-ups of bystanders. Assume faces are searchable, and if you can’t protect people in the moment, consider waiting to share until you can edit safely.

Afterward, back up securely and edit for privacy before posting by blurring faces, tattoos and license plates, removing metadata, and sharing a privacy-edited copy instead of the raw file. Think strategically about distribution because sometimes it’s safer to provide footage to journalists, lawyers or civil rights groups who can authenticate it without exposing everyone to mass identification. And remember the “second audience” beyond police, including employers, trolls and data brokers.

But the camera in your pocket is also part of a maturing surveillance ecosystem, one that links video, facial recognition and location data in ways most people never consented to and often don’t fully recognize.
https://theconversation.com/filming-ice-is-legal-but-exposes-you-to-digital-tracking-heres-how-to-minimize-the-risk-273566

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Filming ICE is legal but exposes you to digital tracking - here's how to minimize therisk (Original Post) SunSeeker Jan 23 OP
Better yet CountAllVotes Jan 23 #1
Use a GoPro or other small video camera instead of your phone if you intend to record a protest Ocelot II Jan 23 #2
Thanks for sound advice. yellow dahlia Jan 23 #4
Exactly, or just a $30 PopSnap pocket camera by Vivitar from Target or Walmart. SunSeeker Jan 23 #6
Put phone in airplane mode and leave wi-fi and bluetooth as well as NFC off. Wonder Why Jan 23 #3
Thanks for additional advice. yellow dahlia Jan 23 #5
best is a burner phone or dumb camera. uncle ray Jan 23 #7

Ocelot II

(129,704 posts)
2. Use a GoPro or other small video camera instead of your phone if you intend to record a protest
Fri Jan 23, 2026, 04:43 PM
Jan 23

or other event. It's easier to conceal than a phone, and if it's confiscated you haven't lost all that phone data and personal info. Leave your phone at home. If you need one for communication get a burner.

SunSeeker

(57,876 posts)
6. Exactly, or just a $30 PopSnap pocket camera by Vivitar from Target or Walmart.
Fri Jan 23, 2026, 05:17 PM
Jan 23

I bought the Vivitar PopSnap for my son for travel, and found it can record really good video, so long as you insert a 32GB or 64GB SD card in it so it has the memory to record the video(s). Very handy for recording ICE. And it is super compact, it will easily fit in a shirt pocket, under a hat, etc. I am sure there are similar cameras on Amazon as well.

That way, you don't risk your phone. My whole world is on my phone. No way would I want Trump’s Nazis taking my phone. They can have my PopSnap.

uncle ray

(3,317 posts)
7. best is a burner phone or dumb camera.
Fri Jan 23, 2026, 05:51 PM
Jan 23

especially in hot spots. the nazis are using sophisticated spy tools to round up everyone's info, i would not trust a device that is simply turned off or in airplane mode.

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