But really, the best opsec doesn't rely on tech or even opposes it. Tech can help you with plausible deniability, but you shouldn't assume it protects you from the feds.
Don't take your phone to a protest or any activity you don't want to be identified at. Or if you do, take it powered off, battery removed. If you can get a cash burner that you only power on at protests, otherwise keeping the battery removed, that's also fine. If you power it on at home even once they now have your rough location to associate with it.
Wear a mask to protests / actions where you want to avoid being identified. Facial recognition tech is ubiquitous. e.g., you go to a May Day thing and a subset of anarchists start breaking windows, that's when you should've planned ahead and covered your face.
Assume all internet activity is tracked and can be read back to you in a court. Your browser can be fingerprinted, making it possible to identify you even though you used a VPN and incognito and so on. Consider dedicating an entire browser to certain websites, ideally with spoofed browser data like the wrong user agent. This will not prevent tracking but will add some obfuscation. Another measure is to disable JavaScript but this will break basically every website. Keep in mind that using uncommon browsers might actually deanonymize you more than a common one if you ever use your "Chapo browser" to log in to Gmail or something. And remember that this won't actually protect you from the feds coming after you once you're a target, just obfuscate things a bit when your internet history gets read to you in court.
Consider minimizing tech and smart devices in your house, particularly those that can aren't running on open software (and ideally hardware) that you control. The more devices, the more that could be owned, the more metadata for identifying your network and correlating activity. Even if you get rid of your Alexa and smart TV with a microphone and so on, your phone is still loaded with sensors, constantly sends metadata to Google/Apple/your cell company, and has who knows how many potential backdoors, so if you were a target by the feds that would be one of their focuses. If you've been attracted to a dumbphone life, maybe this is a time to try it out. Alternatively, an open alternative platform might help in some regards, but is also yet another rare thing that could be used to identify you, so it'll never be perfect. The most secure smartphone is the one you don't use.
In terms on avoiding getting on feds' lists... I dunno, I think you're probably already on them via browser metadata, direct metadata on what sites you visit (DNS), and that hammer and sickle commemorative pin set you bought on AliExpress. I think it's generally a good idea to focus on local in-person organization and avoid online calls to violence generally, including the state's idea of property violence.
For in-person organizing, don't get arrested. Don't listen to people in the org who make pointlessly risky plans that amount to getting everyone arrested (that's fed shit). Have plans for deescalation, lawyers, and getting the fuck out of there if things head south. Remember that we are a very small movement that needs growth more than anything else. I agree that it's very cool to do certain things against certain property, and I applaud it, but it's usually not worth risking a comrade. It's usually low stakes. It's usually not something that couldn't be effectively replaced by a free breakfast type of program, organizing a tenants' union, getting a comrade on the city council.
Throw a car battery into the ocean.
But really, the best opsec doesn't rely on tech or even opposes it. Tech can help you with plausible deniability, but you shouldn't assume it protects you from the feds.
Don't take your phone to a protest or any activity you don't want to be identified at. Or if you do, take it powered off, battery removed. If you can get a cash burner that you only power on at protests, otherwise keeping the battery removed, that's also fine. If you power it on at home even once they now have your rough location to associate with it.
Wear a mask to protests / actions where you want to avoid being identified. Facial recognition tech is ubiquitous. e.g., you go to a May Day thing and a subset of anarchists start breaking windows, that's when you should've planned ahead and covered your face.
Assume all internet activity is tracked and can be read back to you in a court. Your browser can be fingerprinted, making it possible to identify you even though you used a VPN and incognito and so on. Consider dedicating an entire browser to certain websites, ideally with spoofed browser data like the wrong user agent. This will not prevent tracking but will add some obfuscation. Another measure is to disable JavaScript but this will break basically every website. Keep in mind that using uncommon browsers might actually deanonymize you more than a common one if you ever use your "Chapo browser" to log in to Gmail or something. And remember that this won't actually protect you from the feds coming after you once you're a target, just obfuscate things a bit when your internet history gets read to you in court.
Consider minimizing tech and smart devices in your house, particularly those that can aren't running on open software (and ideally hardware) that you control. The more devices, the more that could be owned, the more metadata for identifying your network and correlating activity. Even if you get rid of your Alexa and smart TV with a microphone and so on, your phone is still loaded with sensors, constantly sends metadata to Google/Apple/your cell company, and has who knows how many potential backdoors, so if you were a target by the feds that would be one of their focuses. If you've been attracted to a dumbphone life, maybe this is a time to try it out. Alternatively, an open alternative platform might help in some regards, but is also yet another rare thing that could be used to identify you, so it'll never be perfect. The most secure smartphone is the one you don't use.
In terms on avoiding getting on feds' lists... I dunno, I think you're probably already on them via browser metadata, direct metadata on what sites you visit (DNS), and that hammer and sickle commemorative pin set you bought on AliExpress. I think it's generally a good idea to focus on local in-person organization and avoid online calls to violence generally, including the state's idea of property violence.
For in-person organizing, don't get arrested. Don't listen to people in the org who make pointlessly risky plans that amount to getting everyone arrested (that's fed shit). Have plans for deescalation, lawyers, and getting the fuck out of there if things head south. Remember that we are a very small movement that needs growth more than anything else. I agree that it's very cool to do certain things against certain property, and I applaud it, but it's usually not worth risking a comrade. It's usually low stakes. It's usually not something that couldn't be effectively replaced by a free breakfast type of program, organizing a tenants' union, getting a comrade on the city council.