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August 22, 2013 - Comments Off on [Training] Digital Rights Foundation Reaches Out to the Young Women Activists of KPK

[Training] Digital Rights Foundation Reaches Out to the Young Women Activists of KPK

Technology acts as a powerful tool for freedom of expression. It often provides the marginalized groups of society with alternate mediums to get their message across. Story telling is a transformative art that can be applied in diverse settings. By integrating technology with the centuries-old tradition of story telling, new milestones have been reached in the field of communications. With the rapid growth of social media, digital storytelling has emerged as a very effective technique for social advocacy.

Digital Rights Foundation as a feminist organization remains committed to the use of ICTs for women empowerment. DRF regularly conducts training for women activists, writers, bloggers, human rights defenders and journalists to enhance their technical skills. Besides offering support for staying safe on the internet, we also conduct digital storytelling workshops. The key objective of these storytelling sessions is to help women speak out for themselves by teaching them to narrate their experiences in a persuasive manner.

This month, Aware Girls from Peshawar partnered with Digital Rights Foundation to organize a 4days hands-on digital storytelling workshop in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa.  The training sessions commenced on August 16, 2013 and continued till August 19, 2013. After a careful assessment, twenty five participants had been selected to participate in the session. The theme for this particular program was creating awareness regarding gender-based violence.

DRF storytelling session

During the course of workshop, women activists were trained to develop their own stories using a wide array of digital tools. Participants were familiarized with a range of photography, videography, editing and post-production techniques. Four days of intensive coaching enabled the women create and share their unique perspectives on gender based violence. The participants were provided one-on-one assistance to help them customize their projects and generate focused messages in short presentations. Through digital stories, the feelings and thoughts of women activists were brought into action. On the final day, a special story screening event was arranged. Participants were guided to carry out self-evaluation of their work. To mark the successful completion of the training, certificates were awarded to the participants.

Digital Rights Foundation plans to document and disseminate the stories on various digital platforms. DRF also aims to launch more  such projects in future that involve the use of digital media for addressing gender-based violence and violence against women. In that context, DRF seeks to develop interactive training manuals so that participants would be able to carry out similar workshops within their organizations.

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August 14, 2013 - Comments Off on Call For Participation: Digital Security Workshop In Peshawar

Call For Participation: Digital Security Workshop In Peshawar

Digital Rights Foundation (DRF), Bolo Bhi and Aware Girls are happy to announce a one day Training of Trainers on Digital Security and Privacy for Women Human Rights Defenders, Activists, journalists and young bloggers of Peshawar on 20th August 2013.

The main goal of this TOT is to increase the number of women defenders, activists, journalists and bloggers who are well-informed and confident enough on digital security to carry out trainings themselves within their own organisations and communities.

We would like to invite all members of the Women Human Rights Organizations, Civil society, journalists, bloggers to submit short profiles for consideration for this training. We will only be able to accommodate a maximum of 30 participants from Peshawar (final decision sits with the organising committee).

Shortlisted participants will be sent the details about the venue of the training. The deadline to apply is 17th August.

All interested candidates should send an expression of interest outlining how they meet the required criteria, how they will carry further trainings and why they are interested to nighat@digitalrightsfoundation.pk.

 

Please note that as organizations focused on your privacy rights we discourage participants to send us extra information i.e strictly no CVs. Please practice discretion when sharing your personal information online. Share a brief bio relevant to your work only along with contact information that can enable us to contact you for updates. All data received will be discarded on the 18th August. We will not use your contact information for anything other than contacting you for this workshop specifically. 

 

August 2, 2013 - Comments Off on More than a hundred global groups make a principled stand against surveillance

More than a hundred global groups make a principled stand against surveillance

For some time now there has been a need to update understandings of existing human rights law to reflect modern surveillance technologies and techniques. Nothing could demonstrate the urgency of this situation more than the recent revelations confirming the mass surveillance of innocent individuals around the world.

To move toward that goal, today we’re pleased to announce the formal launch of the International Principles on the Application of Human Rights to Communications Surveillance. The principles articulate what international human rights law – which binds every country across the globe – require of governments in the digital age. They speak to a growing global consensus that modern surveillance has gone too far and needs to be restrained. They also give benchmarks that people around the world can use to evaluate and push for changes in their own legal systems.

The product of over a year of consultation among civil society, privacy and technology experts (read here, here, here and here), the principles have already been co-signed by over hundred organisations from around the world. The process was led by Privacy International, Access, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

The release of the principles comes on the heels of a landmark report from the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression, which details the widespread use of state surveillance of communications, stating that such surveillance severely undermines citizens’ ability to enjoy a private life, freely express themselves and enjoy their other fundamental human rights. And recently, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Nivay Pillay, emphasised the importance of applying human right standards and democratic safeguards to surveillance and law enforcement activities.

“While concerns about national security and criminal activity may justify the exceptional and narrowly-tailored use of surveillance programmes, surveillance without adequate safeguards to protect the right to privacy actually risk impacting negatively on the enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms,” Pillay said.

The principles, summarised below, can be found in full at necessaryandproportionate.org. Over the next year and beyond, groups around the world will be using them to advocate for changes in how present laws are interpreted and how new laws are crafted. We encourage privacy advocates, rights organisations, scholars from legal and academic communities, and other members of civil society to support the principles by adding their signature.

To sign, please send an email to [email protected], or visit https://www.necessaryandproportionate.org/about

Summary of the 13 principles:

Legality: Any limitation on the right to privacy must be prescribed by law.

Legitimate Aim: Laws should only permit communications surveillance by specified State authorities to achieve a legitimate aim that corresponds to a predominantly important legal interest that is necessary in a democratic society.

Necessity: Laws permitting communications surveillance by the State must limit surveillance to that which is strictly and emonstrably necessary to achieve a legitimate aim.

Adequacy: Any instance of communications surveillance authorised by law must be appropriate to fulfill the specific legitimate aim identified.

Proportionality: Decisions about communications surveillance must be made by weighing the benefit sought to be achieved against the harm that would be caused to users’ rights and to other competing interests.

Competent judicial authority: Determinations related to communications surveillance must be made by a competent judicial authority that is impartial and independent.

Due process: States must respect and guarantee individuals' human rights by ensuring that lawful procedures that govern any interference with human rights are properly enumerated in law, consistently practiced, and available to the general public.

User notification: Individuals should be notified of a decision authorising communications surveillance with enough time and information to enable them to appeal the decision, and should have access to the materials presented in support of the application for authorisation.

Transparency: States should be transparent about the use and scope of communications surveillance techniques and powers.

Public oversight: States should establish independent oversight mechanisms to ensure transparency and accountability of communications surveillance.

Integrity of communications and systems: States should not compel service providers, or hardware or software vendors to build surveillance or monitoring capabilities into their systems, or to collect or retain information.

Safeguards for international cooperation: Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties (MLATs) entered into by States should ensure that, where the laws of more than one State could apply to communications surveillance, the available standard with the higher level of protection for users should apply.

Safeguards against illegitimate access: States should enact legislation criminalising illegal communications surveillance by public and private actors.