Physical surveillance is more common than most people realize — and far more detectable than most surveillance operatives want you to know. This guide covers the professional counter-surveillance techniques used by trained operatives, adapted for civilian application.
The Principles of Counter-Surveillance
Professional surveillance relies on your unawareness. The moment a subject becomes surveillance-aware — begins actively looking for surveillance — the calculus changes entirely. Most civilian surveillance operations cannot survive a surveillance-aware subject.
The first principle of counter-surveillance is baseline establishment. You cannot identify what is anomalous until you know what is normal. In any environment, spend the first few minutes simply observing: who is present, where they are positioned, how they are behaving. Anomalies become visible against a known baseline.
The second principle is repetition detection. Surveillance requires proximity, and proximity requires repetition. A face that appears once is unremarkable. A face that appears in two different locations, or at two different times in the same location, is significant. Three appearances constitute a pattern.
Practical Detection Techniques
Route variation is the most effective detection technique available to civilians. If you take the same route every day, surveillance becomes trivially easy — operatives simply position themselves along your route. Varying your route forces surveillance to move with you, which creates exposure.
The surveillance detection route (SDR) is a professional technique that can be adapted for civilian use. It involves taking a route that creates natural choke points — locations where anyone following you must pass through the same point. A narrow corridor, a specific doorway, a particular intersection. Anyone who appears at multiple choke points is following you.
Reverse observation — stopping unexpectedly, turning back on your route, entering a location and immediately exiting — forces surveillance to react. Surveillance operatives are trained to handle these situations, but their reactions are still observable if you know what to look for.
When to Seek Professional Support
If you have identified consistent surveillance — the same individuals appearing repeatedly, vehicles that seem to follow your route, evidence that your movements are being tracked — the appropriate response depends on who is conducting the surveillance and why.
Alibi Agency's counter-surveillance service provides professional assessment and response for individuals who believe they are under surveillance. We identify the source, assess the extent, and provide both immediate protective measures and long-term operational security solutions.
Concerned about physical surveillance? Contact us for a confidential consultation.