Four domains, not one
Digital, vehicular, physical and electronic surveillance are each given full treatment, which is unusual — most books in this space cover one and gesture at the rest.
The Information Station Series
Surveillance Countermeasures
Detect & Evade Phone, Vehicle, Digital & Physical Tailing
Surveillance Countermeasures by Richard Harlan — a practical counter-surveillance guide to detecting and evading phone, vehicle, digital and physical tailing, drawn from declassified and public sources.
Detect and evade phone, vehicle, digital and physical surveillance
Surveillance Countermeasures is a practitioner's handbook to modern counter-surveillance — identifying, defeating and evading tracking across four domains: digital (smartphones, metadata, browsing history), vehicular (GPS trackers, IMSI catchers, automatic licence-plate readers), physical (foot and vehicle tailing, surveillance-detection routes) and electronic (RF devices and TSCM fundamentals).
Drawing on declassified intelligence training material, FOIA-released law-enforcement documents and published academic research in security studies, it puts foundational tradecraft — once reserved for intelligence professionals — into the hands of anyone who values their privacy.
Inside the guide
- Smartphone surveillance vectors and concrete countermeasures
- How to detect and remove a vehicle GPS tracker
- IMSI-catcher (Stingray) detection and evasion
- Building and running a Surveillance Detection Route (SDR), step by step
- Digital OPSEC and metadata-minimisation techniques
- Recognising a physical tail and running counter-surveillance drills
Written for the US and Canada, this is a calm, methodical reference for journalists, activists, executives, domestic-abuse survivors and privacy-minded citizens who need to know how to detect a tracker and protect themselves from unwanted surveillance.
Editorial Review
What Makes Surveillance Countermeasures Worth Reading
Surveillance Countermeasures earns its title by covering all four domains rather than the one most books stop at. Digital privacy guides typically end at the smartphone; tradecraft books typically ignore it. Harlan treats phone, vehicle, digital and physical surveillance as a single problem with four surfaces, and draws the methodology from declassified intelligence training, FOIA-released law-enforcement records, and published security research. The tone is methodical rather than paranoid — this is a reference for people with a real reason to be careful, written as though they are adults.
— Editorial assessment, The Information Station
Key Insights from the Book
Surveillance Detection Routes, step by step
The SDR is the core skill of counter-surveillance, and the book teaches its construction properly: timing, terrain, and the difference between coincidence and correlation.
Grounded in the documentary record
FOIA-released law-enforcement documents and declassified training material do the heavy lifting, rather than speculation about what agencies might be capable of.
GPS tracker detection, systematically
A methodical physical search protocol, the role of RF detection, and the difference between hardwired and battery-powered trackers — with what to do once you find one.
IMSI catchers explained properly
How a cell-site simulator actually impersonates a tower, what it can and cannot capture, and what the public record shows about deployment.
Defensive by design
The framing is consistently protective rather than offensive — detecting surveillance aimed at you, securing your own devices, searching your own vehicle.
Metadata and digital OPSEC
Why metadata is more revealing than most people assume, and concrete minimisation techniques that do not require technical expertise.
Journalists, executives, activists, survivors
The book is written for people with a legitimate and often urgent reason to know whether they are being watched — including domestic-abuse survivors, a use case most privacy writing ignores.
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All Editorial Reviews →Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know if there is a GPS tracker on my car?
Vehicle trackers are typically placed in a limited number of predictable locations, and they leave detectable signatures. Surveillance Countermeasures covers a systematic physical search methodology, the use of RF detection, the difference between hardwired and battery trackers, and what to do once you find one.
What is a Stingray or IMSI catcher?
An IMSI catcher — often called a Stingray — is a cell-site simulator that impersonates a legitimate cell tower, causing nearby phones to connect to it and reveal identifying information. The guide explains how they work, what FOIA-released law-enforcement documents reveal about their deployment, and the documented approaches to detection.
How can I tell if I am being followed?
Through a Surveillance Detection Route — a deliberately constructed path designed to force any follower into revealing behaviour without alerting them that you are testing. The guide teaches SDR construction step by step, along with the principles of timing, terrain, and the difference between coincidence and correlation.
Is counter-surveillance legal?
Detecting surveillance directed at you, securing your own devices, and searching your own vehicle are generally lawful activities. The guide focuses on defensive, publicly documented techniques and flags where legal lines exist. It is written for people protecting their own privacy — journalists, executives, activists, and abuse survivors among them.
Does this book cover digital as well as physical surveillance?
Yes — all four domains: digital (smartphones, metadata, browsing), vehicular (GPS, IMSI catchers, licence-plate readers), physical (foot and vehicle tailing), and electronic (RF devices, TSCM fundamentals).
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