01

Determine perceived threat level:

Get real with oneself about who they are. Political student? In a marginalized group based on ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or identity? Non-citizen with or without legal status?

Assume for this thought experiment that threat level is high and the person in question is a racially marginalized political student with legal status as a non-citizen.

02

Determine end goal:

Decide on personal options. Stay in country and hide (think Anne Frank), seek asylum in neighboring country or attempt one-way ticket to home country.

Assume for this thought experiment that the goal is to seek asylum in a neighboring country and to stay free until then. Assume borders have not been closed.

Remembering this goal is crucial for maintaining protection (and sanity) when required to do things one normally wouldn't.

03

Get a lawyer:

Everyone should have access to an attorney. Find someone today. Have citizen friends search and contact on one's behalf. Don't be naive. They should search using @tails

04

Personal security - home and work:

This is a time to be bold. Be very direct with your close friends. Set your goals and expectations.

Expect known residences to be under surveillance with microphones, cameras and people. Stay away from them and find a place to hold-up. Continuing daily life like school or work? Do it from home using safe computing practices or stop doing.

04 Continued

Sending someone to one’s home to pickup clothes and gear has risks. Be wise. Go in wearing different clothes than exiting. Don’t bring out incriminating items. Only enough in a backpack. Make it look full on the way in. Don’t directly go home. Head somewhere random, but chosen ahead of time. Leave from different exit. Have a person there to transfer items to nonchalantly.

05

Personal security - friends and family:

Expect known family and friends to be under surveillance or questioned. Coming and going from their home should be treated with almost the same caution as one’s own home.

06

Personal security - computing:

Expect devices to be tracked. Ask a friend to startup a small mobile contract in their name and borrow that phone if no access to a burner. Have them create account completely. Install @GrapheneOS if a Pixel device. Disable biometrics. Startup to PIN. Lock after 1 minute. Use signal to converse with screenlock on and all security options ON. Have contact phone numbers listed by code, not full names. Initials are OK. Label attorney as such.

06 Continued

No Google. No Facebook. No LinkedIn. No ordering. No apps. Log out of everything. No excuses. Use Tails for computing when needed.

07

Make plans to get out - where to?

Since this thought experiment assumes asylum seeking. Determine which is closest and allows navigation through the least hostile territory. It won't be perfect.

This thought experiment uses vacation with friends as a cover story such as spring break or visiting a particular city. Do all the things one would do for such a thing. Bring clothing that suits the trip. Have plans laid out for each expected day of journey.

07 Continued

Have a return date set. Get hotel rooms. Of course a citizen of the country one is fleeing should do bookings. Print out and bring with to show if questioned.

Have reasonable amount of cash. Have prepaid credit card under friend’s name.

07 Continued

The vacation should have 3 or 4 people total. The car being used must be legal and safe. Give no reason to pull over or need a mechanic. The car should be spotlessly clean. No weapons, only prescription meds in containers. No alcohol. The trunk should be clean. Only reasonable luggage. There should be no bumper stickers. No one should be displaying or wearing any political, ideological or religious symbols on clothes or jewelry.

08

Protecting identities:

Getting a false identity has risks and that should be weighed against other risks. For this thought experiment, maintaining real identity will be chosen.

Visual cues can trigger authorities. Religious or ethnic dress, hair or adornments should be removed. While a difficult choice, remember the goal of getting somewhere where one is not prosecuted for their belief, ethnicity and identity.

08 Continued

Everyone involved should be fully invested in their roles and stay in them. No winking, nudging or nodding. Decide from one moment on, that everyone is in character - always even when alone. This will help story corroboration when questioned. Go through all the motions of the cover story.

Talk about the vacation as if it is real - and in fact, once in the asylum country the vacation should be played out, photographed (minus the asylum seeker) for the return trip cover.

08 Continued

Don't include people that are nervous or combative. This is important. The goal is to have the most seemingly boring and normal vacation possible.

09

Seeking asylum:

For this thought experiment, there is no previously known information on this topic. It's important that the attorney give advice on the proper language when across the border. Where does the asylum request need to take place? How quickly does it need to take place? What are the next steps? What documentation is required?

10

End goal achieved:

Contact friends and family. Keep them up to date as soon as possible. Use the same phone as above. Use Signal. Use coded mechanisms if necessary. For example, uploading a photo of a butterfly to a document means safe. Make it simple and easy to remember.

The friends should carry out the vacation as planned. They should have a reason if someone asks where the other person is.

10

End goal not achieved

Friends should start photographing and not interfere (it’s not going to work). Have a predetermined plan – one person should photograph license plates and vehicles. One person should photograph badges. One person should photograph the arrest. Use 4k video when possible. One person should have a voice recorder in a vest pocket and not visible.

10 Continued

Designated friend should call attorney and initiate their next steps. One person should contact friends and family through Signal. One person should contact local media. One person should contact AP News. One person should contact Reuters. Allow them to break the story. Give each of them a different video to run with.

11

Is counter surveillance an option?

Use non-internet connected cameras mounted to bikes and side windows (facing forward, sideways and reverse) to look for suspicious people and cars. Maintain maps and times. Make sure all documentation is encrypted.

Have people walk around the block and maintain mental notes until able to securely document. Denote clothing, gender, race, vehicles, license plates, hair color and style - anything that is a quick identifier.

11 Continued

Unobtrusively mount cameras from interiors and exteriors when possible. Use directional highly sensitive microphones pointed in direction of vehicles.

All just hypothetical.
Just a thought experiment.