No-Trace on Montreal Counter-information

The Briarthorn OpSec Guide

Sun, 13 Jul 2025 14:10:00 +0000

Introduction

There’s a lot of work that goes into figuring out how not to get arrested, and how to minimise the damage if you are. To try to make it easier for our comrades, we want to share the techniques we’ve developed while operating an illegal activist organisation. This is a guide for non-experts, but for some procedures it will help to be moderately techy or at least be working with some techy friends.

A Practical Security Handbook: No Trace Project edition

Wed, 18 Jun 2025 12:32:00 +0000

From No Trace Project

PDF: read | letter booklet part 1 , part 2 | tabloid booklet • TXT

Note from the No Trace Project:

A Practical Security Handbook for Activists and Campaigns was originally published in the United Kingdom in 2004. While part of this handbook is now outdated, we believe some of it is still very relevant.

This document is a partial re-edition of the original handbook. We have freely adapted its contents, leaving out sections that we deemed outdated or irrelevant to this re-edition, improving wording, and changing a few details, while trying to stay as close as possible to the spirit of the original text. We have also added footnotes to point the reader to up-to-date information on DNA, CCTV, and other topics.

To the International Anarchist Movement: Three Security Proposals

Sun, 17 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

From the No Trace Project

This text is addressed to the international anarchist movement, which we’ll define as the sum of individuals fighting for anarchist ideas around the world. This movement is in conflict with its natural enemies — the State, fascist groups, and so on — and must protect itself if it is to survive in this conflict. In this text, we make three proposals for the international anarchist movement to consider in the coming years in order to allow anarchists to continue attacking while limiting their chances of getting caught.

Anti-Repression Talks #1: Preparing for Physical Surveillance

Fri, 27 Sep 2024 11:37:00 +0000

From the No Trace Project

he No Trace Project is launching a new initiative, the Anti-Repression Talks, to encourage discussion of surveillance and security issues within and between informal anarchist networks, on an international level. We believe that many anti-repression practices are more powerful when they are carried out across a network, rather than only by specific affinity groups.

The Anti-Repression Talks will be a series of sessions, each on a different topic, and each lasting three months. During a session, participants are encouraged to form local study groups with people they trust to discuss the topic of the session — we provide resources and discussion points to help kickstart those discussions. At the end of a session, an international online chat takes place, where participants can anonymously meet to discuss their thoughts and findings. After a session, its findings are published on the No Trace Project website, including any materials contributed by study groups and a summary of the online chat.

DNA you say? Burn everything to burn longer: a guide to leaving no traces

Mon, 01 Apr 2024 13:17:00 +0000

From No Trace Project

[READ] [WEB] [PRINT]

Note from the No Trace Project:

We hope that this translation will help English-speaking anarchists to better understand and protect themselves against the dangers of DNA.

We added many footnotes, either to add information or to explain our disagreements with the original text, especially in the section " A protocol for two ". Our footnotes are preceded by “ N.T.P. note”, whereas the original footnotes are not.

You Can't Catch What You Can't See: Against Video Surveillance

Mon, 25 Mar 2024 12:49:00 +0000

From No Trace Project

[PRINT]

Note from the No Trace Project:

This text is a case study of video surveillance in France, and most of its content is based on the French context. However, we believe it can be useful to an international audience because understanding how video surveillance works in France can help to understand how it works in other places, and because a lot of technical, general information is scattered throughout the text.

How to submit an anonymous communiqué and get away with it

Tue, 19 Mar 2024 13:03:00 +0000

From No Trace Project

[PRINT] [READ]

A communiqué, also sometimes called a reportback or hit report, is a report on (typically) illegal direct actions that is shared online via counter-info sites or in print publications. Mainstream media may suppress reporting about certain tactics or the reason for choosing a target may be unclear, so submitting a communiqué is a way to share news, tactics, and political motivations directly.This guide describes how to securely submit an anonymous communiqué online. It is written for anarchists, but could be useful to other audiences like journalists or dissident groups sharing information while concealing their identities. While some communiqués are signed by a group or individual claiming responsibility, this guide focuses on anonymity.

Cars as Cameras: A short overview of Tesla surveillance features and lessons for attack

Sun, 15 Oct 2023 13:31:00 +0000

From the No Trace Project

Most expect to be captured on video when walking through downtown streets, which are often littered with traditional types of security cameras, such as the dome cameras, bullet cameras, or the newer remote controlled PTZ (Point, Tilt, Zoom) cameras. Previously, this was less expected in residential neighborhoods, which now have an increasing amount of home surveillance systems like Amazon’s Ring or Google Nest cameras. Police departments have seized on the increasing popularity of these devices and struck deals with their parent companies to directly incorporate them into existing surveillance networks and access data without the knowledge or permission of the camera owner. Some doorbell style cameras offer forms of audio surveillance as well: Amazon’s Ring cameras, easily spotted by their ominous glowing circle, can reportedly capture conversation-level audio from up to 25 feet away. Ring has partnered with more than a thousand police departments across the United States . Some police departments even ran pilot programs that enabled them to constantly live-stream from residents’ doorbell cameras.