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convergence: canada
DIGITAL DATA PRIVACY AND SECURITY in Community Organizations
By Isabelle Coutant // Adult Education Development and Liaison Officer, CDÉACF Community organizations collect and store confidential data, such as contact information about their members and partners, personal information or even life stories. They must also protect their own data, such as their accounts and passwords. Indeed, in an effort to promote teamwork, partnerships and remote work, cloud computing is being used on a daily basis, which means remote access to servers, exchanges, collaborative writ ing, and so on. This way of working is practical and even essen tial. As a result, storing information online and using it remotely raises questions around digital data privacy and security.
there is very rarely any action taken to anticipate potential issues. The second barrier that was identified following the interviews is the lack of accessible resources and information.
The way cybersecurity practices are monitored in community organizations shows that there is little awareness of the issue and that it is poorly addressed among groups. This can be explained by how quickly digital tools are developed, the lack of information in this area, and certain preconceived ideas about risks, such as that cyber attacks reported in the media usually involve larger companies or institutions with which the community sector does not identify. However, nearly 60% of attacks involve smaller organizations.1 Furthermore, according to the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security2 , organizations most at risk from cyber attacks include those that store personal data and promote remote work.
The information has been simplified, and the layout of the fact sheets and cards has been designed to make the informa tion accessible to people who might require reading assistant software when reviewing the online toolkit. In addition, the illustrations, narration and length of the videos were adapted to make the content as accessible as possible. All videos included subtitles. Fact sheets were also printed and sent to all groups that requested them.
To address this matter, the Centre de documentation sur l’éducation des adultes et la condition féminine (CDÉACF) launched a project in 2018 to enable community groups to make informed decisions about privacy and security concerns related to digital data. This project was carried out with the support of the Ministère de l’Éducation et de l’Enseignement supérieur du Québec. First, the CDÉACF consulted several community organizations about their needs, mainly literacy organizations and women’s advocacy groups. One of the first barriers that was identified, in terms of being able to do something about increasing cyber security among groups, is the lack of information that is readily available to the public. In fact, most organizations do not have resources dedicated to information management. This means that staff members often have to educate themselves in this highly technical area, which has its limits. Accordingly,
To provide groups with clear and accessible information on cybersecurity, the CDÉACF has designed and produced a toolkit that contains useful tips on how to secure the six common entry points for attacks targeting community organizations: the operating system of connected devices, the computer network, the website, identity or data theft, and social networks.
Moreover, given that stakeholders for this project are organi zations delivering direct services, employees often have to answer questions from participants about personal digital security, including identity theft, email account protection, password strength, and so on. That is why the CDÉACF has created fact sheets on these issues that can be easily shared with participants. The uptake and benefits from launching the cybersecurity toolkit have been and continue to be highly positive. Organiza tions that participated in the project or its official launch have expressed their willingness to reflect on current internal prac tices and take action to better protect their digital data. The initial learning experience was designed to increase awareness about the vulnerability of operating systems to cyberattacks and the fact that smaller organizations are just as exposed to risk in this area as larger ones. The cybersecurity toolkit is available at http://cdeacf.ca/ boite-outils-cybersecurite [in French]. t
John Mason, “Protect Yourself: Preparing Your Nonprofit’s Workplace For Cybersecurity,” TechSoup, May 29, 2018, https://www.techsoup.ca/community/blog/protect-yourself-preparing-your-nonprofit’s-workplace-for-cybersecurity 2 Government of Ontario, “Canadian Centre for Cyber Security.,” accessed February 2021, https://www.cyber.gc.ca 1