Digital threats facing progressives have been growing for a while. But with corporations newly empowered to track and profit from our every move online, the Trump administration controlling mass data collection and surveillance, and an empowered Far Right with its share of online hackers, more organizers, IT managers, and Exec Directors than ever are motivated to take digital security seriously. Wondering if this course is right for you? Feel free to take the quiz at the bottom of this page.
We cover the immediate and common threats we face — at the organizational and personal levels — and how to make wise decisions about trade-offs; immediate and practical ways to protect your organization and yourself; approaches to building strong digital security and the landscape of digital security for organizing as a whole.
We walk you through the internal discussions and judgement calls to put together a digital security process for your group that is actionable and accessible. We also discuss specific challenges in different organizational contexts, including attending protests, remote organizations, with vendors, and working in coalition or as a network.
H Kapp-Klote. H has organized on and offline for the last decade, starting as a queer youth organizer in Kansas. Formerly the Digital Director for GetEQUAL, a LGBTQ organizing network, H’s online storytelling campaigns have reframed what constitutes “LGBTQ issues.” From supporting cryptoparties to one on one training, H is passionate about helping organizations and individuals build strong digital security practices, and compiled the resource “Things to Know About Web Security Before Trump’s Inauguration: A Harm Reductionist Guide.” H uses a variety of online tools to tell stories that can both win real victories and bring people most impacted by harm into the movement.
Jonathan Stribling-Uss, Esq., SMT Staff Partner. Directs Constitutional Communications, a nonprofit organization that specializes in information security for professionals and civil society organizations. Has led trainings for hundreds of attorneys and law students on cybersecurity, professional ethics, international law, and attorney-client communications with the NYCLA Bar Association, Law For Black Lives, and the Continuing Legal Resource Network at CUNY. Has trained journalists, foundations, activists, and technologists from more than 40 countries at the Center for Constitutional Rights, Thoughtworks global corporation, the International Development Exchange, the Legal Clinics of the CUNY School of Law, and The Florestan Fernandes National School in Brazil. His work was recently featured in NY Magazine, The Indypendent, and Brazil de Fato news magazine.
Allen Gunn, SMT Advisor. Executive Director, Aspiration. Gunner works to help NGOs, activists, foundations and software developers make more effective use of technology for social change. He is an active facilitator, contributor, advisor, and/or partner in a number of open projects, including The Tor Project, OpenReferral, Open Architecture Collaborative, Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team, Simply Secure, and Mozilla. He is a board member of The Ruckus Society, Global Exchange, and Peer 2 Peer University, and also serves in formal advisory roles with CorpWatch, LocalizED, Ranking Digital Rights, The Center for Tech Cultivation, The Engine Room, The Everett Program, United for Iran, and The Rosetta Foundation.
Additional presenters:
June Clarke, IT Manager, Make the Road, NY
Angela Campion, Palestine Legal
Photo: Camille Seaman, #NoDAPL warrior. Much love and appreciation to her and many others standing for #WaterIsLife.
Comments from registrants:
"Very helpful for learning about digital security. It's great that the course doesn't just cover a lot of tools but focuses on a few and explains why certain measures are important and what the workflow could look like. The training is awesome!" - Linda Tchernyshyov, Research Analyst, UNITE HERE
Micky is a Black queer and genderqueer visual artist and organizer who has called Richmond, Virginia home for over 20 years. He’s a mostly self-taught designer who has developed his design work with a range of organizing groups. In his current role at Southerners on New Ground (SONG) Micky does both design and larger organizational communications. He joined SONG as a member in 2014, then joined staff to lead campaign work around police accountability and continue to build SONG’s base. Through his work with SONG, the Virginia Anti-Violence Project and the LGBT youth center Side by Side, Micky brings in his experiences as a Black queer and trans organizer. He loves art, media, stand up comedy and dreaming about building a safer, beautiful, more affirming world for trans and queer people of color to not just survive in, but thrive in.