Dealing with Surveillance
Developing strong ‘security culture’ practices will make you and the people you are organising with safer.
The aim of ‘security culture’ protocols is to put measures in place to make you feel safer – not to create fear and paranoia. Paranoia only immobilises people.
“Security is a process that protects you in some fashion, whether in the run up to, during or after the event(s) you are involved in. This means, that security is there to facilitate the smooth operation of your action, campaign, etc. and help keep everyone safe… There is no such thing as a 100% fail‐safe system. There is always some risk; and security processes help reduce that risk to an acceptable level. It is up to you to define what the acceptable level of risk is and how best you can deal with it. Security is not a single thing; it is a process and a state of mind.”
Useful resources on activist security and creating a strong security culture:
- Digital Rights Watch Australia
- Digital Security resources compiled by Melbourne Activist Legal Support
- Rackus Society ‘Security Culture for Activists’
- ‘The Security Handbook’ by the Activist Security Collective
- Surveillance Self-Defense (US based and specific, with useful generic information)
