Sails Workshop on Digital Identity in the “Science and Technology in feminine” event

On the 26th, 27th and 28th of October 2021, the “Science and Technology in feminine” event was held in the network of Basque Technological and Scientific Parks. A series of events organized by APTE (the Association of Scientific and Technological Parks in Spain) aimed at promoting scientific and technological vocations among girls.

During these days, more than 180 secondary school students from different regions in the Basque Country (Araba, Gipuzkoa and Bizkaia) took part in the “Digital Identity” workshop. Students had the opportunity to work on cybersecurity concepts to learn how to protect themselves while using an open WiFi network or prevent intruders from intercepting their data. They discussed who uses their home WiFi network, in case someone unauthorised accesses the network and steals the bandwidth, or if the actual speed given by the Internet provider corresponds to the contracted one. They learned the basic notions about VPNs (Virtual Private Network) and how they work in favour of data privacy. In addition, they played a cybersecurity game in which they went through several levels to find out where the information of a fictitious entity had escaped. Finally, they had the opportunity to talk about deep fakes, fake videos created using digital software, machine learning and face swapping, also about the risks of these tools.

Through the different activities, the workshop promoted safe attitudes using technology to raise awareness of the importance of cybersecurity. The workshop ended with a practical message related to equality in the face of male chauvinist cyber-violence, self-protection and denunciation.

This workshop is an example of good practice to raise young people’s awareness about issues addressed in the SAILS project.