In Part 1, guest writers addressed some of the privacy concerns people face in the post-Roe environment. This article is provided for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. CleanTechnica does not recommend violating the laws of the state in which you reside. If you have any questions about the content of this article, we recommend that you consult a lawyer. It is also generally advisable to consult a lawyer on this topic.
Do not go straight there and home (use the decoy destination)
If you can’t find a charging station that doesn’t record your whereabouts somewhere, there are other strategies you can use to hide your destination. That is to use decoy.
The strategy basically works as follows: Choose some tourist destinations on the other side of the clinic. National parks, theme parks and historic sites are good choices. There are clinics on or near the route, but plan to loop through some such attractions, not as an endpoint. Having a hotel or tourist attraction near the clinic is also a good idea as it gives you a reason to stay in the area for a few days if needed. Take selfies on the site or do other things and enjoy the fun of your destination for those who may break your life later.
This will cover more than 90% of the trip and the data destined for the area will appear to be independent of going to the clinic. It also reduces the amount of data that can be used later without attaching a valid alibi.
Plan your trip so you don’t have to return to your home state right away. This gives you time to recover and ensures that you can receive emergency treatment with abortion legal if something goes wrong afterwards. Again, the vacation destination is a good long-term cover in the area. If you are stuck there due to a prolonged emergency, you should contact a lawyer and consider not returning to your home state until the beach is clean.
Disable the connected car function (if necessary)
If you want to disable the EV tracking feature at any point in your “vacation”, you’re probably working on a serious task, but that’s not impossible.
The most vulnerable part of the connected vehicle system is their power. You can usually see which part of the vehicle is powered by which fuse by looking at the fuse diagram or instruction manual. You need to identify infotainment, ADAS / autopilot, cellular radio, assistive features, and anything else that records or sends data to the list of fuses. Then pull the fuse. Depending on the manufacturer, the vehicle may or may not run after pulling these fuses. It’s a good idea to have some kind of physical key as well.
If you do this, many EVs may not be able to charge, so be sure to use the decoy destination method above.
The next way to disable the vehicle’s data capabilities is to physically disconnect the cellular antenna. This may be easy if the cellular radio is under the seat like an old OnStar vehicle, or if the antenna can be twisted off. Or it can be very difficult and buried in other parts. You may need to remove the entire infotainment unit to physically disconnect the antenna, or you may need to remove the “shark fin”.
This next part may sound ridiculous, but a little aluminum foil may be your friend here. If you’re afraid to tear inside the car, you may just need to wrap the foil around the antenna. However, you should test the services connected to your vehicle to see if you can still board. If this works, it’s a good idea to hide the foil so that the police don’t see you wrap the foil around the antenna to hide something. Tapeping the foil can make the car look like it’s broken.
Even if you turn off your phone, you can probably use foil wrap for your safety and privacy. Phones that are turned off are not always turned off.
Does your car have a camera? If you need to temporarily lose some vehicle functionality, cover them. Find the painter’s tape that matches the color around the camera housing and cut the tape into a blending shape (often a small circle). Have spare tape, scissors, a paintbrush and a small paint can in case it comes off. I don’t use brushes or paints, but there are good reasons to have a painter’s tape.
Things are the most dangerous at the destination
If you drive nationwide, do not use your car on the last journey of your trip, even if you have taken all steps to prevent the storage and transmission of data. If you rented a friend’s car, don’t use it either. why? Even in states where abortion is legal, activists will camp out to clinics to gather information. In fact, they have already done that.
They remove license plate numbers, take pictures with a telephoto lens, and do everything else that can record people entering and exiting the clinic. If they find a license plate number from a state that could be prosecuted, they send it to the authorities of those states or perhaps sue you at 10 Grands. They will definitely harass you if you can do it the other way around.
So don’t give them anything to report. We welcome traditional taxis (which can be tracked using Uber and Lyft and contain detailed location information). Do not do this from the phone in your hotel room. Pay cash and hide your face as you enter and leave the clinic. Be vigilant early as you may try to spy on the streets using sophisticated multicar tails and other surveillance methods. But you’re already wearing a COVID mask and sunglasses, right?
If you can be safe, have a taxi drop off at the store on the corner closest to the hotel. This gives you a reasonable place for those staying at the hotel to get things, and a safe place to walk back from there is not connected from the clinic.
Walking to / from the clinic is probably not a good idea. You may be more easily identified, and if you were assaulted by an anti-abortion activist, your name could appear in a police report, which is very much that you were there. Good proof. You want it not to happen. When you’re recovering, you just don’t want to go back to your hotel.
Finally, don’t talk to the police
If law enforcement or government officials interrupt your trip or ask questions later, do not consult them. There is literally no way it can help you, and there are countless ways it can hurt you. This is a video from a law school professor and police officer detailing why you shouldn’t talk to police officers.
This is said, but in recent proceedings, you must claim the right to remain silent to prevent it from being used against you. This should be done as easily as possible by saying, “I exercise the rights of Article 5 of the Constitutional Amendment.”
The statement is the name, rank, and serial number of your saying. Don’t say anything else until you talk to a lawyer.
Another way people claim the rights of Article 5 of the Constitutional Amendment while traffic is stopped is simply to say “I don’t answer the question.” Here’s a video explaining why you need to do this:
The bottom line is that you don’t want to give the police anything to use for you. It’s not where you go, where you come from, or anything in their business. Keep in mind that state police officers for whom abortion is legal may not be very sympathetic and they may leak your information to police officers in your home state. They are neither your friends nor your allies. When you get home, the way to answer your “vacation” questions probably won’t help.
Do not give them anything to use for you at any time. They are trained on how to lie to you, leak information to you, and manipulate you to get a confession. The only way to win the game is not to play.
Check out our brand new E-BikeGuide.. If you are interested in electric bikes, this is the perfect place to start your e-mobility journey!
Thank you for CleanTechnica’s originality and cleantech news coverage? Consider becoming a member, supporter, technician, ambassador, or Patreon patron of CleanTechnica.