emo.computer

I: Abstract

Dec 02, 20243 min read

Warning

The Queer OPSEC Manual is a work-in-progress adaptation of a Thesis Paper I wrote as part of UC Berkeley’s Queer Politics class. I’m currently working on adapting it into a more accessible (yet technical), manual-like read instead of a more formal academic paper. Check back for updates!

Abstract

In an era where state and corporate surveillance encroach upon personal freedoms with increasing ubiquity, surveillance technology functions not merely as a tool of observation, but as a mechanism of oppression. The union of this system with state and corporate powers enables a form of big data fascism, wherein algorithms, data, and network policing serve to suppress — or otherwise control — lives with unprecedented granularity. In a technofascist state, the marginalized remain the primary target. Within a sociopolitical theater hellbent on anti-queer sentiment, queer communities find themselves in the crosshair of the apparatus.

Surveillance does not protect you—it is not neutral. It is violence1. Trust has long been eroded, and paranoia arrives with good reason. We’ve seen surveillance technologies become increasingly weaponized to target personal freedoms. For example, the monitoring of access to abortion and HRT resources in red states, and corporate complicity in handing over private data for the prosecution of queer individuals2. The Prison Industrial Complex (PIC) relies on the information gathered by the apparatus, and the system in whole operates as a digital extension of broken windows policing; targeting queer bodies as sites of deviance, and thus, justifying punitive measures3. The imposition of the surveillance state stokes a climate of fear and hyper-vigilance, where queer individuals are denied the safety to exist openly, subjugating them to the demands of conformity or invisibility4.

This manifesto outlines the stakes of resisting surveillance in a world hostile to queerness, specifically through the lens of Operational Security (OPSEC) as a necessary skill set for queer autonomy and safety. By highlighting the lived experiences of marginalized communities under surveillance, as well as drawing from trans/queer political theory, I provide both a critique of the surveillance state and a roadmap for actionable resistance. Emphasizing solidarity, resourcefulness, and technological adaptability, I argue OPSEC is not just a tactical response, but a radical act of queer defiance.

Footnotes

  1. Eric A. Stanley, Clocked: Surveillance, Opacity, and the Image of Force, in Atmospheres of Violence: Structuring Antagonism and the Trans/Queer Ungovernable, AK Press, 2011, pp. 30–50. ↩

  2. Martin Kaste, “Nebraska cops used Facebook messages to investigate an alleged illegal abortion,” NPR, 2022. https://www.npr.org/2022/08/12/1117092169/nebraska-cops-used-facebook-messages-to-investigate-an-alleged-illegal-abortion. Accessed 2024-12-01. ↩

  3. Gary Kafer, “Queer Surveillance,” Surveillance & Society, vol. 18, no. 6, 2020, pp. 719–731. https://ojs.library.queensu.ca/index.php/surveillance-and-society/article/view/13541/9103. Accessed December 2024. ↩

  4. Morgan Bassichis, Alexander Lee, and Dean Spade, Building an Abolitionist Trans and Queer Movement With Everything We’ve Got, in Captive Genders: Trans Embodiment and the Prison Industrial Complex, AK Press, 2011, pp. 15–40. ↩

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