Information Security in Small-Scale Protests: Surveillance of Ugandan Anti-EACOP Protesters
Through five weeks of fieldwork and interviews with 13 activists in Kampala, this study reveals how Ugandan student protesters against the EACOP project navigate a multi-layered surveillance landscape by adopting autonomous, daily security practices to mitigate state repression and protect themselves and their networks.
Original paper dedicated to the public domain under CC0 1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/). This is an AI-generated explanation of the paper below. It is not written or endorsed by the authors. For technical accuracy, refer to the original paper. Read full disclaimer
Imagine a group of university students in Uganda who are trying to stop a massive oil pipeline project called EACOP. They aren't a huge army; they are a small, tight-knit circle of friends, mostly students, who meet in secret to organize tiny, spontaneous protests.
The researchers, Ntezi Mbabazi and Rikke Bjerg Jensen, spent five weeks in Kampala talking to 13 of these activists to understand how they stay safe. Think of this study as a "survival guide" written by people living in a high-stakes game of hide-and-seek, where the other team has the police, the government, and powerful oil companies on their side.
Here is what the paper tells us, broken down into simple concepts:
1. The Opponents: A "Two-Headed Monster"
The protesters face a scary situation. They aren't just fighting the local police.
- The Police: They are the ones who show up with tear gas and arrest people.
- The "Shadow" Team: The protesters believe the police are working with the oil companies (French and Chinese) and foreign governments.
- The Analogy: Imagine playing a game where the referee (police) is also on the payroll of the other team's owners (oil companies). The protesters feel like they are being watched not just by the cops on the street, but by a sophisticated surveillance machine that includes phone tapping, tracking cars, and even visiting them in prison to offer them money to stop.
2. The "Small Group" Problem
Most studies on protests look at huge crowds (like thousands of people). In those big crowds, you can hide in the mass of people.
- The Reality: These Ugandan protesters are a tiny group (sometimes only 20 people).
- The Analogy: If you are in a stadium of 50,000 people, a security guard can't easily spot you. But if you are in a small living room with 20 people, everyone is visible. Because they are so small, every single person is a "high-value target." They can't rely on "safety in numbers."
3. The "Digital Wallet" Problem
You might think these activists use fancy, encrypted apps like Signal to talk secretly.
- The Reality: They can't afford it. Internet data in Uganda is incredibly expensive.
- The Analogy: Imagine trying to send a secret message using a high-tech, unbreakable envelope, but the postage costs more than your daily lunch. So, they often have to use regular, less secure methods (like WhatsApp or even phone calls) because that's all they can afford. They are forced to play the game with "cheap" tools because the "expensive" security tools are out of their budget.
4. How They Stay Safe: "The Chameleon Strategy"
Since they can't rely on big crowds or expensive tech, they have to change their entire lives to stay hidden. They act like chameleons, constantly changing their appearance and location.
- No Fixed Address: They don't have a permanent home address they tell anyone. They move between temporary rooms, university hostels, or friends' houses. They might even lie about where they live on hospital forms.
- The "Fake ID" Trick: When arrested, they often give fake names or phone numbers. They know the police will try to track them, so they give the police a "ghost" to chase.
- The "Two-Phone" Life: Many carry two phones. One is a "smart" phone for daily life, and the other is a cheap, old-fashioned "brick" phone (like a Nokia) that can't be easily tracked by GPS. They switch between them depending on how dangerous the situation is.
- The "Ghost" Commute: They don't take the same bus or taxi every day. They might take three different motorcycle taxis (boda-bodas) to get home, changing routes to confuse anyone following them.
5. The "Secret Menu" of Information
They treat information like a secret menu at a restaurant.
- The Strategy: You don't tell everyone the whole menu. You only tell the chef (the core planner) what you need.
- How it works: The protest location and time are kept secret until the very last minute (sometimes less than 12 hours before). They use a "tiered" system where a core member tells a few trusted people, who then tell a few more.
- The Risk: If they let too many people in (like inviting new people from other groups), the "secret menu" gets leaked. The paper notes that in one instance, they invited more people than usual, the police found out, and 47 people were arrested before the protest even started.
6. The Fear of "The Van"
The biggest fear isn't just getting arrested; it's getting "disappeared."
- The Fear: Protesters are terrified of being kidnapped by plain-clothes officers, taken to a secret place, and tortured or killed. They hear stories of this happening to other activists.
- The Result: This fear drives them to be paranoid. They delete text messages immediately after reading them. They memorize phone numbers instead of saving them. They turn off their phones at night and hide them in different parts of the house in case someone breaks in.
Summary
This paper shows that for these small Ugandan protesters, "Information Security" isn't just about installing a firewall or using a password. It is a lifestyle. It is about living a double life, constantly shifting locations, lying to protect their families, and making difficult choices because they can't afford the "premium" security tools that people in richer countries take for granted. They are fighting a powerful system with very little money, relying on trust, secrecy, and constant movement to survive.
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