Digital technology is changing the way in which the society is operating and the ways we live in this modern world. Every day, there is always a new way to work, new methods of communicating and interacting with our friends and family. And as our digital footprints continue to grow exponentially, we are forming our online identities, which in turn exposes us to so many threats.
It is for this reason that DefendDefenders, held a user experience training to train human rights defenders in Nairobi on how best they can keep themselves secure. The training which was held yesterday at Meridian Hotel, in Nairobi brought together Human rights defenders from around Nairobi to learn about digital safety tools with the key focus being on how to use the Signal Private Messenger App.
Criminals are finding new ways to operate and monitor what digital users are doing for their own personal doing. This poses a great danger, especially for human rights defenders who have always faced threats and intimidation from unknown people while doing their job.
‘’Digital Security is an all-encompassing term which includes the tools you can use to secure your identity, assets, and technology in the online and Mobile world. And that’s why we’re here to tell them about Signal’’ Cecilia Maundu, who is one of the organizers of the training says. Signal is a messaging app that looks and works a lot of other basic messaging apps. It is described as the most secure messaging app because it allows for encrypted texts, phone calls, and video chats between users.
The free application, available for both Android and iOS users also has a tone of other features like disappearing messages and offers the most private way to communicate.
The more than 20 human rights defenders who attended the training were given a chance to share their user experiences using the app and also share feedback on how best it can be improved.
‘’Our aim is to ensure that as much as these human rights defenders do their job, they also remain secure. Messaging apps like Signal offer just that ensuring that their conversations are not tracked or monitored by anyone’’ Cecilia adds.
The training was sponsored by DefendDefenders, an African Human Rights Defenders Project seeking to strengthen the work of human rights defenders (HRDs) throughout the region by reducing their vulnerability to the risk of persecution and by enhancing their capacity to effectively defend human rights.
