Being connected to the internet does come with pros and cons, we are all aware of that. Take the massive Yahoo e-mail account breach, for example, it has now led to the leakage of numerous user’s personal information on the interwebs. This sheds light on the dwindling state of cyber security and Google is willing to work to help better protect consumer interest online.
Thus, the Indian arm of the Mountain View-based tech behemoth has joined hands with the country’s Ministry of Consumer Affairs to work on spreading awareness about online safety. They’ve together announced a nationwide ‘Digitally Safe Consumer’ campaign to provide users with knowledge of best practices to protect their identity as well as money from intruders on the web.
Talking about the same, Chetan Krishnaswamy, Country head, Public Policy, Google India said,
With the rapid increase in digitisation across all spheres, the message of internet safety needs to be integrated into the everyday tasks that the consumer undertakes online. This initiative will add to our existing campaigns guiding users to navigate the web and manage their digital lives safely and leverage the web to the fullest.
Under this collaboration, Google plans to work with Department of Consumer Affairs to undertake a yearlong campaign that’ll particularly focus on building capacities for the country’s consumer organisations, the personnel of Consumer Affairs Department, and counsellors of National Consumer Helpline. The company will help educate them on internet safety and other related issues.
In addition, Google plans to work with partner agencies to provide training and information on online safety tools, most likely provided by themselves. It will also organise ‘Digital Literacy, Safety & Security’ workshops through a ‘Train the Trainer’ model that’ll advocate digital security and privacy needs for nearly 500 individuals, including 250 consumer organisations across the country.
This educational campaign will feature write-ups, posters, interactive quizzes and audio-visuals is expected to roll out in January 2017. It will help in teaching the 300 million internet users in India about the challenges of Internet safety and security. The official release states:
These trainers will further engage with the local community to spread awareness around the need for Internet Safety. The campaign will reach out with training materials to over 1200 consumer organisations as well as consumer affairs department of every State and Union Territories.
Google also runs a Web Rangers initiative that works with schools across the country to educate students, who’ll soon become a majority of internet users, about safe surfing practices. It has also partnered with Data Security Council of India and Consumer Voice to run a special information security awareness program small and medium scale businesses and community organizations respectively. This initiative by the government and Google India is a major step towards the elevation of
This initiative by the government and Google India is a major step towards the elevation of knowledge about user privacy and how a certain set of tools and services can help them protect their identity.
