Backslash: Anti-surveillance gadgets for protesters

Two designers create a toolkit for tech-savvy protesters.

by Joshua Kopstein
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When riot police descended on protesters in Ferguson, Missouri, last
year sporting assault rifles and armored vehicles, the images sparked an
awareness of the military technologies and tactics authorities have
adopted over the past decade. Many of these tools have quietly become
regular components of day-to-day policing. And just as with social
networks and cell phone cameras during the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall
Street, they've dramatically—and often invisibly—altered the dynamics of
contemporary protest.

Examples are everywhere, from the controversial Long-Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) sound weapons used to disperse crowds to secretive mass surveillance devices, commonly known as stingrays
originally developed for the US Navy, which police use to track cell
phones, often without a warrant. Earlier this year, police in India
began equipping aerial drones with pepper spray cannons to use on crowds of protesters. In August, North Dakota became the first US state to allow the same; a new law
drafted by a drone lobbyist permits North Dakota cops to arm drones
with pepper spray, tasers, and other “less-than-lethal” weapons.

The FBI has admitted that it flew surveillance planes equipped with high-resolution cameras
over the Black Lives Matter protests in Ferguson and Baltimore,
Maryland—part of a secret program that has monitored over 30 major
cities from the skies using aircraft registered to fake companies. And
in New York City, the NYPD has outfitted unmarked white vans with
advanced X-ray equipment capable of seeing through walls and even people's clothes.

A black-and-white
bandanna printed with a blocky, digital pattern reminiscent of the
common Arabic keffiyeh is one item in the Backslash kit, a package of
devices that help protesters stay safe and connected during
demonstrations. The bandanna's pattern can store messages that can be
revealed with the Backslash app.