Author: Maria Mir Kashif, Head of PMO, Jazz, Pakistan
With the racing technology trends in the world and massive volume of data & information sharing in this digital age; we cannot deny that this technology is helping us to achieve milestones which never were possible before. However, at the same time, the potential risks of mishandling that information which we put out there are also increasing manifold as we don’t know who is going to misuse our data in what way and where.
The key question is defining what we mean by digital trust and how women can achieve it. In an ideal world, it refers to the freedom and possibility of putting out information in the digital world without the fear of it being manipulated, tampered, or mishandled. The risk of being exposed to mishandling of data is equal for both men & women but it has far more impact on a woman’s life than a man, especially in the third world societies.
Some of the pointers to achieve digital trust for women online are below:
- Education & Awareness: By educating young girls about media safety, risks associated with the kind of information they put online. Also, awareness must be raised about who to trust online and how to identify potential threats, abusers & harassment online.
- Digital Literacy: Making sure our girls know about the privacy settings and media literacy. Keeping private information private and to ensure who is exposed to what information that they are posting online. Workshops and exercises need to be conducted to make the girls aware of their data protection rights from an early age and how to use all the online applications effectively at the same time protecting their privacy.
- Women Centric Discussion Board & Forums: It is important to ensure that women have female mentors to guide them through situations they haven’t encountered before. The availability of a female only discussion board or weekly forums are the correct way to achieve this. The discussion boards can also be online so the women from all over the world can join and share their experiences. They can be light bearers for many other women experiencing through similar situations anywhere in the world.
- Promotion of Women Role Models: One very effective way of ensuring digital trust for women is to put experienced role models and high achievers online and make them accessible for the young aspiring women.
- Implementation of data protection laws and policies at the government level: Women and young girls need to be protected with policies and laws applicable both online and on ground in cases of breach of online trust that may be on a personal or a professional level. The laws should be highlighted and marketed well so that the offenders and probable abusers are aware as well. Women need to discuss those policies and laws in their forums so that anyone who is a victim of an online data protection violation knows where to go and who to address in such a case. The laws should address basic issues like cyber bullying and harassment and should range to data protection violation, identity theft, monetary fraud etc.
- Robust Privacy Features in online apps: Ensuring compliance of technical companies to provide data protection features and to implement robust features which ensure customizable privacy settings & effective means to report in case of harassment or abuse.
- Using AI to build knowledge base about online harassment: AI can be used by tech companies to implement ways to identify harassment online even before the women report them. This can clean up the platform pre-emptively and eventually make every platform a safe space for women as well as overall eradicate the culture of harassing people online.
- Guaranteeing representation of women in industry: Representation of women should be made compulsory so as to highlight and understand the problems faced by women. Also this will make other girls comfortable and open to discuss their problems
- Retrospective sessions to be conducted for policy makers: Regular retrospective sessions to be conducted by the policy makers to review the effectiveness of the policies in place and to make corrective actions if any are required. Also with the aggressively changing technology with every passing day the digital laws need to be continuously reviewed and modified whenever needed.
Above were some strategies by which we can work towards making an inclusive and diverse environment to empower women and young girls in the online domain. These can help them in being open to expressing themselves, contribute to social and economic growth and use their maximum potential for the betterment of whole society.