net of Things devices, do the same. Credit card companies, health insurers, internet retailers, and social media sites all have detailed data about you -- and there is a vast industry that buys and sells this intimate data.

This isn't news. What's different in a techno-authoritarian regime is that this data is also shared with the government, either as a paid service or as demanded by local law. Amazon shares Ring doorbell data with the police. Flock, a company that collects license plate data from cars around the country, shares data with the police as well. And just as Chinese corporations share user data with the government and companies like Verizon shared calling records with the National Security Agency (NSA) after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, an authoritarian government will use this data as well.

Personal Targeting Using Data

The government has vast capabilities for targeted surveillance, both technically and legally. If a high-level figure is targeted by name, it is almost certain that the government can access their data. The government will use its investigatory powers to the fullest: It will go through government data, remotely hack phones and computers, spy on communications, and raid a home. It will compel third parties, like banks, cell providers, email providers, cloud storage services, and social media companies, to turn over data. To the extent those companies keep backups, the government will even be able to obtain deleted data.

This data can be used for prosecution -- possibly selectively. This has been made evident in recent weeks, as the Trump administration personally targeted perceived enemies for "mortgage fraud." This was a clear example of weaponization of data. Given all the data the government requires people to divulge, there will be something there to prosecute.

Although alarming, this sort of targeted attack doesn't scale. As vast as the government's information is and as powerful as its capabilities are, they are not infinite. They can be deployed against only a limited number of people. And most people will never be that high on the priorities list.

The Risks of Mass Surveillance

Mass surveillance is surveillance without specific targets. For most people, this is where the primary risks lie. Even if we're not targeted by name, personal data could raise red flags, drawing unwanted scrutiny.

The risks here are twofold. First, mass surveillance could be used to single out people to harass or arrest: when they cross the border, show up at immigration hearings, attend a protest, are stopped by the police for speeding, or just as they're living their normal lives. Second, mass surveillance could be used to threaten or blackmail. In the first case, the government is using that database to find a plausible excuse for its actions. In the second, it is looking for an actual infraction that it could selectively prosecute -- or not.

Mitigating these risks is difficult, because it would require not interacting with either the government or corporations in everyday life -- and living in the woods without any electronics isn't realistic for most of us. Additionally, this strategy protects only future information; it does nothing to protect the information generated in the past. That said, going back and scrubbing social media accounts and cloud storage does have some value. Whether it's right for you depends on your personal situation.

Opportunistic Use of Data

Beyond data given to third parties -- either corporations or the government -- there is also data users keep in their possession.This data may be stored on personal devices such as computers and phones or, more likely today, in some cloud service and accessible from those devices. Here, the risks are different: Some authority could confiscate your device and look through it.

This is not just speculative. There are many stories of ICE agents examining people's phones and computers when they attempt to enter the U.S.: their emails, contact lists, documents, photos, browser history, and social media posts.

There are several different defenses you can deploy, presented from least to most extreme. First, you can scrub devices of potentially incriminating information, either as a matter of course or before entering a higher-risk situation. Second, you could consider deleting -- even temporarily -- social media and other apps so that someone with access to a device doesn't get access to those accounts -- this includes your contacts list. If a phone is swept up in a government raid, your contacts become their next targets.

Third, you could choose not to carry your device with you at all, opting instead for a burner phone without contacts, email access, and accounts, or go electronics-free entirely. This may sound extreme -- and getting it right is hard -- but I know many people today who have stripped-down computers and sanitized phones for international travel. At the same time, there are also stories of people being denied entry to the U.S. because they are carrying what is obviously a burner phone -- or no phone at all.

Encryption Isn't a Magic Bullet -- But Use It Anyway

Encryption protects your data while it's not being used, and your devices when they're turned off. This doesn't help if a border agent forces you to turn on your phone and computer. And it doesn't protect metadata, which needs to be unencrypted for the system to function. This metadata can be extremely valuable. For example, Signal, WhatsApp, and iMessage all encrypt the contents of your text messages -- the data -- but information about who you are texting and when must remain unencrypted.

Also, if the NSA wants access to someone's phone, it can get it. Encryption is no help against that sort of sophisticated targeted attack. But, again, most of us aren't that important and even the NSA can target only so many people. What encryption safeguards against is mass surveillance.

I recommend Signal for text messages above all other apps. But if you are in a country where having Signal on a device is in itself incriminating, then use WhatsApp. Signal is better, but everyone has WhatsApp installed on their phones, so it doesn't raise the same suspicion. Also, it's a no-brainer to turn on your computer's built-in encryption: BitLocker for Windows and FileVault for Macs.

On the subject of data and metadata, it's worth noting that data poisoning doesn't help nearly as much as you might think. That is, it doesn't do much good to add hundreds of random strangers to an address book or bogus internet searches to a browser history to hide the real ones. Modern analysis tools can see through all of that.

Shifting Risks of Decentralization

This notion of individual targeting, and the inability of the government to do that at scale, starts to fail as the authoritarian system becomes more decentralized. After all, if repression comes from the top, it affects only senior government officials and people who people in power personally dislike. If it comes from the bottom, it affects everybody. But decentralization looks much like the events playing out with ICE harassing, detaining, and disap

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