This Saturday’s free Cybersecurity for Activists workshop at the Halifax Central Library will show how to fight the power while staying protected online.
“In the wake of the Snowden revelations lots of people are feeling this to be a matter of concern,” says Max Haiven, co-director of the Radical Imagination Project and one of the organizers.
The Radical Imagination Project and Trade School Halifax have are putting on the workshop as part of their Trade for Change series. The idea is to give practical skills to political activists, says Haiven, an assistant professor at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design.
“We think that lots of people would be more empowered and energized to struggle for a better world if they could know that they had the better skills and abilities to do so.”
The event will include an open discussion about what sorts of threats are online, suggestions on software to protect passwords and online identity, and tips on how to avoid surveillance.
“We’re hoping to basically impart a certain amount of practical knowledge,” says Quinn DuPont.
A PhD student at the University of Toronto who’s studying cryptography, DuPont is running the workshop with Lucca Fraser, a computer programmer, technology and social theorist at Dalhousie University.
And technophobic don’t need to worry—the workshops is designed for anyone, regardless of knowledge or experience to attend. “We hope that anyone with an interest or concern might come out,” says DuPont.
The Cybersecurity for Activists workshop will take place Saturday, April 2 between 2-4pm at the Halifax Central Library. The event itself is free, but interested participants must register online first. People are encouraged but not required to bring their laptops.
