Member News: Internet Society Chapters Focus on Security

Security on your mind: The Internet Society’s Chapter in Benin recently hosted a conference focused on online security and on connectivity issues. Much of the discussion focused on instability of connections in the country, with participants concerned about degraded connections. Participants also talked about limited coverage for mobile services. On the topic of security, speakers urged Internet users to regularly change their passwords, avoid default passwords, and prevent third-party apps from connecting to the services they use.

Secure messages: The Israeli Chapter has focused on the security of messaging and social media apps recently. The Chapter recently posted a guide on how to prevent Instagram accounts from being hacked and a guide on how users can protect their privacy on the Tik Tok messaging app.

Privacy for the young ones: Meanwhile, the Chapter in Portugal, working with the Kids Safe on the Net project, has launched an initiative to improve awareness among Portuguese youth about the importance of online privacy and how they can maintain their privacy.

Good privacy: The Netherlands Chapter recently gave its support to the Good ID initiative, an approach to identity management that prioritizes data privacy and security. Good ID aims to give Internet users more control over their digital identification and their privacy. “The various personal data scandals in recent years have shown that respect for the privacy of citizens is not yet highly regarded by many parties,” the Chapter said.

Governance and security: The Peru Chapter recently sponsored Internet Governance Forum Peru, which focused on Internet infrastructure, regulation, digital citizenship, and cyber security. Among the topics were “Digital Citizenship and Online Rights: How do we educate new generations to function in a digital world?” and “Internet Regulation: Brake to innovation or opportunity?”

Tech workers unite: The New York City Chapter hosts regular webcasts on Internet and other tech topics. On Feb. 5, the webcast featured Lizzie O’Shea, author of “Future Histories: What Ada Lovelace, Tom Paine and the Paris Commune Can Teach Us about Digital Technology.” She talked about how tech workers – from Silicon Valley to India to Brazil – are using platform cooperative principles to organise for the benefit of not just themselves but society as a whole.