Cybersecurity at the edge: Researching the privacy and security dimensions of indigenous cyberactivism in Ecuador

边缘网络安全：研究厄瓜多尔本土网络活动的隐私和安全维度

• 批准号: 2738017
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Bristol
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2738017
• 关键词: Cybersecurity; edge; Researching; privacy; security

Nowadays, most indigenous communities in Ecuador use information and communication technologies (ICTs) such as Facebook, WhatsApp, and Twitter to support protests for their rights, livelihoods, and culture. However, this exacerbates privacy and security risks for these cyberactivists, who become targets of the Ecuadorian state through cyberattacks, internet censorship and increased surveillance. A prominent example that caused international outrage was in 2019, when the government attempted to legalise internet shutdowns. Privacy-enhancing-tools (PETs) that could protect these indigenous groups are not attuned to their needs and ontologies, as they are usually developed with mainstream Western audiences in mind. Therefore, this research will explore how PETs are appropriated or reconfigured to support indigenous cyberactivism in Ecuador. I will conduct 12 months of ethnographic fieldwork in Ecuador with indigenous protesters, non-governmental organisations, and cyber-policy makers. The outcome of this work will be a set of recommendations for the design of PETs that are tailored to the needs of indigenous protesters and also transferable to marginalised communities in other parts of the world, as well as a contribution to the under-researched field of privacy and cybersecurity experiences in Latin America.

如今，厄瓜多尔的大多数土著社区使用Facebook、WhatsApp和Twitter等信息和通信技术（ICT）来支持其权利、生计和文化的抗议活动。然而，这加剧了这些网络活动家的隐私和安全风险，他们通过网络攻击，互联网审查和加强监控成为厄瓜多尔国家的目标。一个引起国际愤怒的突出例子是在2019年，当时政府试图将互联网关闭合法化。能够保护这些土著群体的隐私增强工具（PETs）并不适应他们的需求和本体论，因为它们通常是在考虑到西方主流受众的情况下开发的。因此，本研究将探讨如何PETS被挪用或重新配置，以支持土著网络行动主义在厄瓜多尔。我将在厄瓜多尔与土著抗议者、非政府组织和网络政策制定者进行为期12个月的民族志实地考察。这项工作的成果将是一套针对土著抗议者需求的PET设计建议，也可以转移到世界其他地区的边缘化社区，以及对拉丁美洲隐私和网络安全经验研究不足的领域做出贡献。