The lack of clarity about what technological powers are held by the Iranian government — one of the most opaque and isolated in the world — has engendered its own form of quiet terror for prospective dissidents.“These functions can lead to life-and-death situations in a country like Iran, where there is no fair judicial process, no accountability, and we have a huge pattern of violations of people’s rights,” said Amir Rashidi, an internet security and digital rights expert focused on Iran.“Using the tools outlined in this manual could not only lead to mass surveillance and violations of privacy — it can also easily be used to identify the location of protesters who are literally risking their lives to fight for their basic rights.” Referred to within SIAM as “Force2GNumber,” the command allows a cellular carrier to kick a given phone off substantially faster, more secure 3G and 4G networks and onto an obsolete and extremely vulnerable 2G connection.Such a network downgrade would simultaneously render a modern smartphone largely useless and open its calls and texts to interception — both of obvious utility to a government clamping down on public gatherings and speech.“Generally speaking, forcing a phone to use the 2G network would still allow the phone to receive a two-factor SMS authentication message because SMS is sent over the mobile signaling network,” explained Miller."