STEP 3 Double Check Your Security Security should always be a priority when dealing with evidentiary video. Be sure to include encryption and anonymity in your workflow (and make sure you know the difference between the two). Encryption is an important step no matter which transfer method you opt for, and it can be done in a couple of ways. Create encrypted volumes on your computer or external storage device. Your operating system comes with built-in tools that allow you to do that, though they are not very convenient if you need your encrypted drives to be usable on devices with different operating systems (for example, when moving from a Windows computer to a Mac). If that’s the case, look to a third-party application that can work across PC, Mac, Linux, Android and iOS; just be sure to check the latest security updates to make sure they are still considered safe and, in the case of an open source option, have been audited recently. • SUGGESTIONS: FileVault on Mac OSX and BitLocker on Windows are the built-in options; TrueCrypt, VeraCrypt, and Symantec Endpoint are cross-platform applications. HFSExplorer is an example of a tool that can open a Mac-encrypted DMG volume on Windows. On mobile, Android devices have an encryption option in the settings, though it will slow the device down and there is no easy way, short of a reset, to turn off the encryption. Option 2: File Encryption Directly encrypt individual files, rather than whole drives. The best way to go about this is to use the PGP standard, which you may already be using to encrypt your email. This method is very secure and well known, but it requires everyone involved in the transfer to have PGP keys set up and made available to each other, so a bit of preparation is needed. • TS: GPGTools for Mac, Gpg4win for Windows, and Android Privacy Guard (APG) for Android-based smartphones are the best options for using PGP to encrypt your files and share them with specific people. KEY POINT Protecting Anonymity The full disk encryption and file encryption approaches protect the content that you’re transferring, but if you need to keep yourself anonymous online when setting up accounts and navigating the web, the Tor Browser is a good place to start. A VPN service is another option that may provide a bit more cover depending on where you are, though VPNs should be avoided if using the torrent option mentioned above. If complete anonymity is needed – when using a public computer, for example -- the TAILS operating system can give you access to browsers and basic applications while not logging any of your activity on the hard drive. 170 VIDEO AS EVIDENCE: TECH TOOLS V 1.0 FILMING Option 1: Full Disk Encryption