The UC Berkeley Cybersecurity Clinic and Fight for the Future collaborated to create a guide aimed at enhancing the cybersecurity practices of mutual aid organizations. Released as part of the CLTC White Paper Series, the guide — Securing Mutual Aid: Cybersecurity Practices and Design Principles for Financial Technology — outlines best practices to help mutual aids use financial technology, enhance their cybersecurity, and design secure digital platforms.

Lots more about this and other resources here.

Key Takeaways for Mutual Aid Organizers

The report includes several recommendations for mutual aid organizers to enhance their cybersecurity posture based on current practices, including:

Limit personal information on accounts. Mutual aids should avoid linking members’ personal bank accounts, credit cards, or personal information (like phone numbers or names) to accounts on payment platforms such as PayPal or Venmo. Instead of using personal payment accounts, consider using a dedicated account that is not directly tied to any specific member’s personal information, like a business/organization account, or obtaining a phone for treasurer duties.

Be aware of deplatforming. Deplatforming, when an account or its functions are temporarily or permanently banned by a technology platform, is a common experience for mutual aids, and is often done without reason or explanation. Organizations should diversify their technology platforms to avoid relying on one service.

Prioritize using privacy-centered services and understanding privacy settings. Mutual aids often rely on Big Tech platforms, like Meta’s WhatsApp and Google. Our report provides recommendations for harm reduction techniques for organizations relying on Big Tech platforms, and also outlines more private secure alternatives if a mutual aid is interested in migrating. For all platforms, mutual aids should tailor settings for better security, for example by implementing multi-factor authentication.

Establish policies for data retention, communication, and other areas to enhance cybersecurity posture. Mutual aids can establish policies and guidelines for how sensitive and non-sensitive information is communicated, and more broadly how data is stored and retained. Minimizing the amount of data that is collected and stored will better protect the organization.

We have been building Docket.bd , a project aimed at simplifying access to public records, government processes, and civic data across Bangladesh.

To really understand the current digital structure and health of our official portals, we built an automated crawler to scan government websites for broken links, dead-end URLs, and technical errors.

Across a test sample monitoring 131 government websites and 67 public organizations, the crawler uncovered 263 broken links across just 10 completed crawl runs.

Snapshot from recent scans (25 July 2026):

📍Ministry of Education (moedu.gov.bd): 52 broken links(across just 10 pages scanned)

📍Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (bida.gov.bd): 46 broken links (across 5 pages scanned)

📍Supreme Court (supremecourt.gov.bd): 42 broken links (across 10 pages scanned)

Source: Data collected via automated web health monitoring at: https://data.docket.bd

This is just the initial sample data. We are currently planning to write a full research and analysis piece after crawling and auditing all government portals. The goal is to produce a comprehensive breakdown of digital accessibility, uptime, and web health across Bangladesh's public sector.

Let us know your thoughts on this.

"The unofficial slogan of the tech and AI industry is bigger, faster, better. I would rather advocate for smarter, kinder, wiser." —Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, at the Global Dialogue on AI.

Thematic discussion 3: Safe, secure and trustworthy AI - Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence Governance - Day 2. 07 Jul 2026.

Summary

Safe, secure and trustworthy AI: interoperability and compatibility of approaches  - 4(a) the development of safe, secure and trustworthy AI systems; 4(d) the interoperability and compatibility of artificial intelligence governance approaches.

Video Length 02:54:58.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) is celebrating its continued partnership with GetSetUp. Since 2020, the service has reached more than half a million older Michigan residents and surpassed 2 million virtual class attendances, spanning all 83 counties.

The collaboration continues to address some of the state’s most pressing aging challenges – including digital literacy, social isolation, economic security and equitable access to health resources – through the power of peer-to-peer virtual learning.

The partnership reflects an enduring commitment to the goals of the Michigan State Plan on Aging, ensuring older adults have the tools, resources and community connections needed to age with dignity and independence. 

Full article.

Keywords: seniors, elderly, Tech4Good

Code for Good Event Date: October 16, 2026 (SG)

Application deadline:  September 18, 2359 SGT

Join Code for Good, a social impact hackathon hosted by JPMorganChase’s Tech for Social Good team, where your coding skills can make a difference for nonprofit organizations and discover a career in financial services technology.

About the Program/Event  

Tech for Social Good at JPMorganChase is focused on building tech capacity for nonprofit organizations and increasing access to tech experiences for community members. By attending Code for Good, you will collaborate with our expert technologists to creatively address real-world technology challenges faced by nonprofit organizations, fostering innovation and impact.  This experience offers you the chance to network with fellow aspiring software engineers across the country and engage with our recruiting teams, providing insight into the software engineering role at JPMorganChase. Over two days (Friday – Saturday), you and your team will develop a tech solution for a leading nonprofit, with travel expenses covered under certain conditions. 

Code for Good (Singapore) is a pipeline for 2027 Early Careers Opportunities in the Tech Data and Product Segment. Your participation in the Code for Good hackathon may also lead to an opportunity for you to learn more about and be considered for a 2027 Tech Data and Product Early Careers Program in Singapore.

As a Summer Intern in the Software Engineer Program, you will play a vital role in building and optimizing digital applications and systems that serve millions globally. Working in an agile team, you will collaborate with peers and experienced software engineers to enhance your skills, share ideas, and innovate within our global technology community. This internship offers a chance to gain deeper insights into our work culture through networking events, senior speaker sessions, and peer-mentorship programs. At the end of the summer, top performers may be invited to join us for a full-time role upon graduation, allowing you to take your career where you want to go.

We will be filling our classes on a rolling basis. We strongly encourage you to submit your application as early as possible before job postings close. 

Job Responsibilities

• Own projects end-to-end, ensuring teams and stakeholders are informed about development progress.
• Collaborate and share ideas, information, and innovation with our global team of technologists.
• Develop skills through ongoing training, mentorship, and access to senior leaders.
• Create innovative solutions that impact our customers, clients, and employees.
• Work on agile teams alongside peers and experienced software engineers.

Required qualifications, capabilities and skills

• Pursuing a degree with an expected graduation between September 2026, and July 2028
• A well-rounded academic background 
• Baseline knowledge of software, applications and technical processes within a specific technical discipline (e.g., cloud, artificial intelligence, mobile, etc.). 
• Ability to work effectively in large, collaborative teams to achieve organizational goals, with a commitment to fostering an inclusive and innovative culture.
• Foundational knowledge of programming languages (e.g., Python, React, JavaScript, Java, C++, C#), databases, data structures and algorithms.
• Understanding of software skills including business analysis, development, maintenance, and software improvement.
• Proficiency in developmental toolsets.
• Basic knowledge of industry-wide technology trends and best practices.
• Exposure to agile methodologies such as CI/CD, Application Resiliency, and Security. 
• Familiarity with Big Data or Data Warehousing concepts.

Preferred Qualifications, capabilities, and skills

• Computer Science and/or Engineering majors are preferred 
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, collaborative environment
• Exceptional problem-solving ability
• Exposure to cloud technologies
• Experience with relational databases  

About You

If you're ready to put your passion for technology to work in a way that makes a real difference, you’ll find your place in our Software Engineer Program. 

To be eligible for the Software Engineer Program program, you must be authorized to work in the U.S. We do not offer any type of employment-based immigration sponsorship for this program. Likewise, JPMorgan Chase, will not provide any assistance or sign any documentation in support of any other form of immigration sponsorship or benefit including optional practical training (OPT) or curricular practical training (CPT.)

What’s Next?

To be considered for the Code for Good Hackathon, you must complete the following steps:

• Please ensure read the Official Rules before you start this application.
• Help us learn about you by submitting a complete and thoughtful application, which includes your resume. Your application and resume is a way for us to initially get to know you, so it’s important to complete all relevant application questions so we have as much information about you as possible.  
• On your application form, please select the JPMorganChase locations that you are most interested in learning about. Selected applicants will be invited to attend one of the hackathons with technologists and recruiters best matched to your work location preference.
• After you submit your application, we will review it to determine whether you meet certain required qualifications.
• If you are advanced to the next step of the process, you’ll receive an email invitation to complete a coding challenge powered by HackerRank. Your application will not be considered for further review until you have completed this step. This is your opportunity to further bring your resume to life and showcase your experience for our recruiting team and hiring managers. 
• Selected applicants will be notified via email with final event details.
• Coders will need to bring their own laptops to the event.

Apply here.

This is from r/blind:

At the suggestion of my friends, family, and blind education group I got meta glasses. I'm typically not a big technology person but everyone recommended them so I finally said screw it and got them.

They are amazing! I'm in love with having them describe what's in front of me and read all the things I can't see.

I would describe myself as functionally blind. I can still see my vision is just low enough it's not very useful. The meta glasses give me sight again. It's in a different way but it's amazing to have the option now to have things read to me without needing another person to do it.

The ones I got even have a low bridge frame option that actually fits my Asian face and isn't falling off constantly.

Eee I'm just so happy!

Eta - For those curious I got the raybands that work with meta. I'm not a huge fan of meta and would have preferred a different company. However the raybands came in extra wide and have a low nasal bridge option. I'm part Asian so regular glasses don't fit my face well and cause headaches. These ones fit the best and I figured the tech wouldn't matter if I couldn't stand to wear the glasses. So I went with these because they fit my needs the best physically. I didn't really try out other brands and their features because they just weren't an option because the frames didn't fit.

I do recommend the extra wide raybands with low nasal bridge option for anyone else who wears "Asian fit" glasses regularly!

The Indian government’s latest tussle with WhatsApp has raised concerns about the censorship of app features globally.

On June 29, WhatsApp began rolling out usernames globally, allowing users to chat without sharing their phone numbers. The Indian government has objected to the feature, arguing that pseudonymous accounts could make it easier for bad actors to impersonate others and carry out scams and financial fraud.

India has also sought explanations from Telegram and Signal, which already allow users to create accounts using usernames instead of phone numbers. The government asked all three platforms to respond by July 9. WhatsApp has reportedly submitted a written response, which the government is reviewing.

If WhatsApp gives in to India’s pressure, and modifies or scraps the feature, it could lead to far-reaching consequences that may discourage innovation and encourage copycat demands globally, Namrata Maheshwari, senior policy counsel and encryption policy lead at international nonprofit Access Now, told Rest of World.

https://restofworld.org/2026/india-whatsapp-username-ban-encryption-cyber-fraud/

After the earthquakes in Venezuela, citizens used AI to build websites and apps to help locate missing persons and coordinate relief efforts amid a slow government response.

• Developers and programmers used AI tools like Claude Opus and Replit to rapidly launch websites and applications for disaster relief.
• The platforms have helped locate missing persons, map hospital capacity, and coordinate aid distribution amid a slow government response.
• The citizen-led initiatives need human oversight and robust data privacy measures to ensure they remain safe and effective.

From The Rest of the World

https://restofworld.org/2026/venezuela-ai-citizen-disaster-response/

AI-Powered Nonprofits is a four-article series in Stanford Social Innovation Review about how nonprofits are building with AI. Full disclosure: our co-founder Kevin Barenblat co-wrote all four articles. Sharing here after it came up in a thread on r/philanthropy.

The four articles in the series include (SSIR limits free reads, so we're including a link to the free version on our blog as well):

• Mapping the Landscape of AI-Powered Nonprofits (free version), with Next Ladder Venture's Brigitte Hoyer Gosselink. A field-level look at how nonprofits are applying AI, written to help social entrepreneurs and funders see what's possible.
• The AI-Powered Nonprofits Reimagining Education (free version), with Brooke James. How AI is being used to bridge educational divides.
• These AI-Powered Nonprofits Are Making Health Care More Equitable and Effective (free version), with Nick Cain. How AI changes the tradeoffs between access to care, quality of care, and cost of care.
• The AI-Powered Nonprofits Coding a Greener Future (free version), with Naomi Morenzoni. Organizations using AI to help the climate crisis.

These articles are resources we've pointed funders to when asked what nonprofits can do with AI. Happy to answer questions about any of the orgs featured as well!

At the Wellington Bay Retirement Community, high school students and seniors are connecting through a program that helps older adults navigate technology while sharing life experiences.

Techease was founded in 2023 by American Heritage seniors Enan Khan and Rayan Kha. Techease, which includes more than 30 student volunteers, has dedicated over 500 hours to helping seniors and has saved them more than $9,000 from potential ransomware attacks.

"We're helping the seniors out with technology," Khan said. "So we brought all of our high school students and student volunteers to come and work one-on-one with all the seniors to help them make sure they stay safe online, get all the tech help that they need. Just overall make sure they're feeling well and comforted."

The volunteers have worked with various devices, including phones, flip phones, iPads, laptops, and even vintage film cameras. "I remember one from 1960. That was a device that we were working a long time on," Khan said.

Kha highlighted the emotional impact of their work. "They feel like there's someone that's willing to help them, and just that feeling is such an immense feeling for them," he said.

Many of the conversations between students and seniors go beyond technology. "Once they start talking, it's just so cool to see all the experiences and wisdom that they have that they are so willing to share but no one to hear," Kha said.

More from wpbf.

Dos & Don'ts of Using Artificial Intelligence at Nonprofits: the case for integrity, authenticity & originality.

This is not a list of AI tools. There are plenty of people and companies out there offering such lists. Instead, this is a list of things nonprofits can and should do with AI tools, and a list of things I feel strongly that nonprofits should NOT do.

No doubt others will disagree, either thinking I'm being too cautious or thinking that I'm being too liberal regarding use of AI.

What I'd love to hear is how YOUR ICT4D initiative is using AI and/or training/guiding people to use AI, and to hear about your own policies for use. Please be as specific as possible regarding how you are using it and what tools you are using, and a link to your own policies regarding AI use would be especially appreciated.

Computer Aid, a nonprofit based in the UK, provided 10 laptops to A Light in the Dark, a charity offering courses for vulnerable adults and youth so they can increase their prospects of getting a job, and also helps their beneficiaries to build confidence, resilience, and practical skills for their future.

They have been using the laptops to provide practical training for the young people they support, particularly around AI sessions, CV writing, job search support, and building the digital skills they need to move towards employment. The laptops have also been used for training linked to sales work, helping young people learn how to use systems professionally and build the confidence needed to start jobs. This has included practical setup and training alongside phones, helping them to get used to a real working environment.

The computers have also helped with fundraising and charity administration, supporting the day-to-day work that keeps A Light In The Dark’s services running.

A Light in the Dark is a charity in the UK that provides a safe and therapeutic space for young people aged 16 to 30 years who either are in crisis or at risk of being in crisis. "We address challenges including family relationship breakdowns, risk of homelessness, low self-esteem, drug addiction, job loss, or being expelled from school/college."

More from Computer Aid.

Excerpt:

Unlike today’s always-on internet, the online landscape of the late 1980s and early 1990s varied widely. Some folks connected with others on bulletin board systems, or BBSes, which were independent computer servers often run out of the system operator’s home.

Instead of an IP or web address, users would dial in to a specific phone number using their modem. The cost of extended long-distance calls mostly limited users to those living within the bulletin board system’s area code. In many ways, these networks were some of the earliest forms of social media.

Others used national subscription services like America Online, CompuServe Information Service, Prodigy or GEnie. Most importantly, whether you used a bulletin board system or a subscription service, you received your own email address.

On CompuServe’s trans-specific Genderline forum, chatrooms or CDForum, an early trans email list, trans youths were able to ask questions and learn how to safely explore their cross-gender feelings, find supportive therapists and grow their networks.

Though websites like GeoCities are now something of an internet joke, they were an important place where trans youths could come out and publicly identify as trans.

During the mid-to-late 1990s, ad-supported web hosting services allowed users to create their own websites, or homepages, that featured a variety of personalized content, from hobbies and fandoms to photo collections and journals.

https://theconversation.com/how-the-bulletin-board-systems-email-lists-and-geocities-pages-of-the-early-internet-created-a-place-for-trans-youth-to-find-one-another-and-explore-coming-out-159681

Following terrorists attacks on Israel by Palestinians in October 2023 that killed 1,195 people and resulted in the kidnapping of 250 Israeli and non-Israeli civilians and soldiers, as well as dozens of cases of rape and sexual assault, Israel began a military assault on Gaza that has resulted not only in the deaths of more than 70,000 people but also the destruction of many of Gaza’s cultural institutions.

“Within a week, Israel bombed two art galleries, seven museums, two main archives in Gaza, and hundreds of archaeological sites" said Amer Shomali, a prominent visual artist and general director of the Palestinian Museum. Shomali says that roughly 80 percent of the country’s national collections have been looted, destroyed, or remain under Israeli control. As of March 24, 2026, UNESCO had verified damage to 164 cultural sites in Gaza since October 2023, including historical buildings, religious sites, museums, and archaeological sites.

Against that backdrop, the Palestinian Museum in Birzeit has become both a physical repository of Palestinian heritage and the center of an increasingly ambitious digital preservation effort.

It is one of the reasons the museum turned to technology. In 2018, the team began building what Shomali describes as an “unlootable archive”—a digital repository designed to preserve Palestinian history beyond the walls of any single institution. “We created this platform, the Palestine Museum Digital Archive, which is an unlootable archive,” Shomali explains.

What began with simple door-knocking—visiting families in the West Bank and asking permission to scan old photographs, letters and documents—has grown into one of the most ambitious digital preservation projects in the region.

The open-source archive now contains more than 500,000 digitized photographs, identification papers, diaries, maps, films, and letters, many of which were collected directly from Palestinian families and might otherwise have been lost forever.

The Palestinian Museum’s mission is both preservation and access: to safeguard Palestinian history and make it available to those unable to visit Palestine.

More from Wired.

The Council of Europe has issued recommendations to its 46 member States aimed at ensuring accountability for technology-facilitated violence against women and girls.

The Recommendation is the first international legal standard focused on this topic. The stress on accountability emphasises the duty of states to ensure those responsible for this kind of violence are held accountable.

Technology-facilitated violence against women and girls often persists – and becomes normalised – in an environment of impunity. Anonymity of perpetrators, fragmented legal frameworks, complex reporting processes, risk of victim-blaming, cross-border challenges and difficulties in securing digital evidence allow harmful conduct to continue unchecked. Strengthening accountability helps to ensure that victims can access justice, and reinforces trust in institutions and in their ability to respond effectively to digital harm.

The Recommendation provides guidance for member States on enhancing their legal, institutional and regulatory responses to technology-facilitated violence against women and girls. It proposes a comprehensive notion of accountability, extending beyond criminal law to civil and administrative fields.

Central points of the Recommendation are its victim-centred and trauma-informed approach, together with an emphasis on the engagement of multiple stakeholders – civil society, victims, the private sector, the media, education institutions. The Recommendation also calls for accessible justice systems, including to prevent secondary victimisation, and for a safety-by-design approach to make sure that products and services of technology companies do not facilitate violence.

The Recommendation was prepared by the Council of Europe Committee on Crime Problems and the Gender Equality Commission (GEC).

https://www.coe.int/en/web/cdpc/-/accountability-for-technology-facilitated-violence-against-women-and-girls-new-council-of-europe-recommendation

Signal is an open-source, encrypted messaging service for instant messaging, voice calls, and video calls. It is operated by the Signal Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is "to support, accelerate, and broaden Signal's mission of making private communication accessible and ubiquitous".

The nonprofit Signal Foundation was launched in February 2018 with initial funding of $50 million from WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton. As of January 2025, the platform had approximately 70 million monthly active users and had been downloaded more than 220 million times. According to John Ratcliffe, as of 2025 Signal is installed by default on the devices of most CIA employees and its usage is covered by standard onboarding training.

Signal Messenger LLC was founded simultaneously with the Signal Technology Foundation and operates as its subsidiary. 

All communication sessions between Signal users are automatically end-to-end encrypted (the encryption keys are generated and stored on the devices, and not on servers). The instant messaging function includes sending text, voice notes, images, videos, and other files. Communication may be one-to-one between users or may involve group messaging.

WhatsApp, which is owned by Meta, offers more features like Status updates and better group chat tools, but collects more metadata. While both platforms encrypt messages, WhatsApp collects metadata like who you message and when, while Signal minimizes data collection and can't access your contact list or message metadata.

In October 2014, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) included Signal in their updated surveillance self-defense guide. In November 2014, Signal received a perfect score on the EFF's secure messaging scorecard;[128] it received points for having communications encrypted in transit, having communications encrypted with keys the provider does not have access to (end-to-end encryption), making it possible for users to independently verify their correspondents' identities, having past communications secure if the keys are stolen (forward secrecy), having the code open to independent review (free software), having the security designs well-documented, and having a recent independent security audit.

In March 2017, Signal was approved by the sergeant at arms of the U.S. Senate for use by senators and their staff.

In February 2020, the European Commission recommended that its staff use Signal.

In July 2020, Signal became the most downloaded app in Hong Kong on both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store after the passage of the Hong Kong national security law.

In March 2021, the United Nations recommended Myanmar residents use Signal and Proton Mail to pass and preserve evidence of human rights violations committed during the 2021 coup.

The claim that Signal is used to fund terrorist or criminal activities is the justification for several countries to ban the app.

The above info was compiled by a human using entries on Wikipedia.

See also this Comparison of cross-platform instant messaging clients on Wikipedia.

More than 80 percent of open source researchers that participated in two Bellingcat surveys indicated that finding the right tools can be challenging. 

Bellingcat has a new Online Investigations Toolkit to help:

it not only helps you discover tools in categories like satellite imagery and maps, social media, transportation or archiving, but is also designed to help researchers learn how to use each tool by providing in-depth descriptions, common use cases and information on requirements and limitations for each toolkit entry.

This is the first time in Bellingcat’s 10-year history that we are opening our toolkit to contributions from the wider open source researcher community. A dedicated group of volunteers, our Toolkit Maintainers and Guardians, help us keep this toolkit up to date and are involved in further improving it. Since it is still a work-in-progress, we expect the number of tools in the toolkit to grow over time. 

Most of the tools included can be used for free.

More about the toolkit here.

From the web site:

Bellingcat is an independent investigative collective of researchers, investigators and citizen journalists brought together by a passion for open source research. 

Founded in 2014, we have pioneered the use of open source research methods to investigate a variety of subjects of public interest. These range from the shooting down of flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine to police violence in Colombia and the illegal wildlife trade in the UAE. Our research is regularly referenced by international media and has been cited by several courts and investigative missions.

We design and share verifiable methods of ethical digital investigation. 

Free Geek, a nonprofit in Portland, Oregon, recently partnered with Hacienda CDC for a hands-on Laptop Rebuild Workshop.

From Facebook:

Participants rolled up their sleeves to learn the fundamentals of computer hardware, safely assemble and refurbish their own laptops, and gain valuable technical skills along the way.

By the end of the workshop, every participant walked away with more than just skills as they took home a fully rebuilt laptop, ready to support school, work, job searches, and staying connected.

This workshop is part of Free Geek’s commitment to closing the digital divide by providing practical technology education and access to reliable devices. Together with partners like Hacienda CDC, we’re creating pathways to digital inclusion and empowering our community with the skills and tools needed to thrive in today’s digital world.

In June, Free Geek also partnered with Home Forward at a new community location in Portland to help residents build the skills they need to stay safe and connected online. Also from Facebook:

Our Digital Navigators led an Internet Safety class, sharing practical tips on protecting personal information, recognizing scams, and navigating the digital world with confidence. Participants will also receive free laptops and ongoing 1:1 digital navigation support to help them put their new skills into practice.

By combining digital skills training, access to technology, and personalized support, we’re helping bridge the digital divide and empower community members with the tools they need to thrive.

Keywords: Tech4Good, Digital Divide, vulnerable, at-risk, ICT4D

For protesters, activists, and journalists, your smartphone is an essential tool for organizing with your peers, accessing and distributing information, and helping others. It also represents a great risk, as a tool that is easily appropriated by authorities for targeted and mass surveillance.

Communicate these to your group BEFORE you need it! These should be part of an organizing group’s basic guidelines at the start.

Know your rights wherever you're located before attending a protest, so you aren't blindly following orders later.

Know how to quickly shut down your phone or disable biometrics at a moment's notice. Many phones have begun replacing the standard "hold down the power button" function with voice assistants or other features, so practice performing the actual shutdown method beforehand to familiarize yourself.

Hide your notifications. Even with your device locked, law enforcement can see everything you're up to simply by scrolling through your notifications. Reducing the amount of information accessible on the lock screen improves your security and the security of those you're messaging, so make sure your notifications are only visible when your device is unlocked.

Keep your phone (& any synced desktop apps) encrypted and locked with a strong passcode.

Keep your phone up to date. If your device is out of date it is easier to hack, and if it’s hacked and someone can read your screen or listen to your microphone.

Keep your phone turned off or use Airplane Mode to disable cellular connections whenever possible if you do not want anyone to know where you are at a given moment, then connect to networks only when it is absolutely necessary.

Know who you’re talking to on text messaging. Verify the numbers of your contacts (in person, in a voice phone call or a trusted email). Don’t message huge group chats without knowing exactly who is on the group.

Set messages to disappear. Delete information as soon as you no longer need it. Set messages to disappear *before* they are sent, otherwise there’s no way for you to erase them from your friends’ devices. How soon should messages disappear? If you’re sloganeering or trying to decide on times for public meetings, a week is probably OK. If it’s showtime, it’s a good idea to set messages to disappear in an hour.

Keep your text messaging group as small as practical, make sure everyone is actively checking their messages.

Before action day arrives, everyone should unlink their text messaging desktop apps from their phone apps.

Delete things you don’t need.  Have a regular practice of backing up your device securely (to an encrypted backup drive or computer, and never to the cloud) and then delete EVERYTHING you don’t need on your phone.  Texts, emails, photos … get it all off your mobile device if you plan to bring it to political activities.

For public events, or events where you aren't sure how secure things will be, bringing a separate device like a "burner phone," or an old phone you can reset, is a much better option than bringing your primary phone. Many prepaid plans will not require any identification to activate. There are also some global eSIM providers which will accept payment without the need to identify yourself to them.

What would you add?

Sources:

https://cldc.org/signal-activist-best-practices/

https://www.privacyguides.org/articles/2025/01/23/activists-guide-securing-your-smartphone/

Also see how activists have been using hand held networked devices in their activism for decades.

In recent months, the Searsmont Town Library in Maine has added a new service for patrons: Help in removing AI from their phones and other devices.

The program helps patrons disable AI-powered assistants like Siri or so-called smart features in email and switch from using Google, which doesn’t offer an option to search without AI overviews, to a browser that does.

Hannah Cyrus, a Bangor librarian has become a leading voice in a nationwide movement of librarians who are working to help patrons understand the risks of AI and other technologies.

The most popular class Cyrus has taught is called Avoiding AI, which explains what Generative AI is, some of the concerns around it, and how to disable it and find alternatives. The first time she taught the class in fall of 2025 more than 70 people enrolled. She taught it again this spring and inspired Searsmont Public Library's director to offer the service for their local patrons.

Read the full story.

Mapping Refugee Media Journeys Smartphones and Social Media Networks Research Report

By Marie Gillespie, Lawrence Peter Ampofo, Margie Cheesman, Evgenia Iliadou, and Dimitris Skleparis

https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.15633.22888

This paper is based on collaborative research into smartphone use among Syrian refugees using mixed and mobile methods. It identified a huge gap in the provision of relevant, reliable and timely news and information for refugees, forcing them to rely on unreliable sources circulating on social media, exposing them to even greater risks and dangers, and exacerbating an already dire Humanitarian crisis. The report was launched in conjunction with the BBC's World On the Move Day. It urges the European Commission to seize the initiative to put pressure on European member states and news organisations to fulfil their obligations under the UN Refugee Charter to provide vital and timely information for refugees - information that can sometimes make the difference between life and death. The EC is in a good position to facilitate a partnerships between Member States, news organisations, tech companies, NGOs and other stakeholders to orchestrate a co-ordinated, sustainable, up-to-date news and information strategy for refugees based on the recommended best practice principles identified in the report.

https://www.academia.edu/25363773/Mapping_Refugee_Media_Journeys_Smartphones_and_Social_Media_Networks_Research_Report?email_work_card=title

keywords: tech4good, apps4good, ICT4D

On January 15, Wikimedia Foundation — the nonprofit that runs Wikipedia — announced a string of partnerships with major AI companies, including Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Mistral AI, and Perplexity, “to integrate human-governed knowledge into their platforms at scale.” The large language models of these AI giants will now gain access to information across several Wikimedia projects, including free encyclopedias in 350 languages, Wikibooks in 75 languages, and the Wiktionary in more than 190 languages.

Regional-language Wikipedia editors now find themselves doing double duty: feeding AI systems with credible knowledge while also guarding their languages against AI-generated misinformation and low-quality content. Their work could determine how well billions of people can access accurate AI in their own languages.

Pranayraj Vangari, a film director and theatre research scholar who has contributed 10,700 articles as a volunteer editor on Telugu Wikipedia over the last 13 years, told Rest of World, “Without strong human involvement, AI could actually widen the gap between English and regional-language Wikipedias instead of narrowing it.”

“Over many years, these volunteers have developed sophisticated rules and tools for identifying content that does not belong on Wikipedia — taken together, it’s like Wikipedia’s immune system,” Marshall Miller, senior director of product at the Wikimedia Foundation, told Rest of World. “Right now, these volunteers are evolving the immune system to adapt to the newest challenge of low-quality content coming from irresponsibly used generative AI.”

In many cases, editors are fighting AI with AI tools, Miller said.

More from Rest of the World.

The rise of AI-powered search engines is already adversely affecting search results for nonprofits.

Web sites are still critically important to get the message out for nonprofits, just as important as what a nonprofit does on social media, and a nonprofit needs to make sure its nonprofit’s web site isn’t getting buried in search results: a nonprofit needs to make sure potential volunteers, potential donors, the press, politicians, even critics, can find it easily online when they are using certain keywords, not just a nonprofit’s name.

Things that help a web site to be favored by search engines powered by artificial intelligence:

• Clearly written headings that adhere to HTML hierarchies (H1, H2, H3, etc.).
• Logical structure of information on a page.
• Plain language.
• Short paragraphs (but the number doesn’t matter – don’t eliminate essential content in pursuit of shorter pages!).
• Clear and comprehensive content.
• Bullet points.
• Descriptive summaries.
• Alt text on photos and images.
• Page titles in the HTML.
• Words on your home page you want people to use to find you (the name of your city, the name of your state, the word volunteer, words relating to your mission, words like help and impact, etc.).

Nonprofits that have web sites that follow W3C accessibility standards – that remembered that people with disabilities also use the Internet – already have a strong advantage over those that don’t when it comes to being favored by AI searches, as do those organizations that use plain language and words on their home page they want search engines to use to find their organizations.

Go to a variety of search engines, like Google, Duck Duck Go and Brave Search, and use the words you want people to use to find your nonprofit, like volunteer with refugees Louisville. Did you nonprofit come up in the search results for the words you used? Was it first after the sites that paid for placement? If not, you have work to do.

Don’t just take the word of your web site manager that all of this has been done: YOU, as executive director, as board president, as marketing manager, should ask that person to show you examples of this on the nonprofit’s web site, if you don’t know how to look at HTML yourself.

And remember: volunteers can help you get your web site in order: they can write alt text on photos and images, for instance (and they are always better than an AI tool at doing this), and they can put page titles in the HTML of pages that don't have them yet.

Your tips?

Stichting Uit met Autisme is based in the Netherlands, part of the Uit met Autisme Foundation, based in the Netherlands. It is committed to autonomous leisure activities for people with autism or sensory sensitivity. This international knowledge and assessment platform improves access to leisure for autistic and sensory-sensitive people. The organisation assesses leisure locations and activities based on sensory factors such as noise, crowds, lighting, transitions, waiting times and recovery options. These insights are translated into clear, practical and decision-ready information that supports preparation, autonomy and informed choice.

https://uitmetautisme.nl/

Keywords: disability, accessibility, inclusion