Protest Guide

Our Protest Guide is part of a campaign that seeks to raise awareness about the technologies that security forces could use to track and identify people at a protest.

ADC has regularly been monitoring the purchase and deployment of surveillance equipment in Argentina. In previous years, we carried out studies on the risks posed by law enforcement using drones[i], expressed our views on cyber patrolling, and actively worked to stop the use of facial recognition in public spaces. Regarding the latter issue, we launched the website conmicarano.org.ar where we display a map of the provinces and towns of our country already using this type of technology. On the other hand, together with other civil society organizations in Latin America, we conducted joint research to disclose the names of the companies that develop and sell these solutions to the different governments in 2021.

Although in Argentina the use of these types of surveillance in protests and demonstrations is still incipient, the growing purchase of equipment provided with them by authorities, such as security cameras, facial recognition, forensic data extraction tools, and drones, together with the increase of cyber patrolling, show a clear advance in their employment, which poses a dangerous threat to human rights.

Through this guide, we intend to set forth how these technologies are being used around the world to monitor protests, how people can lessen the chance of falling victim to them, and provide a series of recommendations to protect yourself should you attend a demonstration.