Center for Health Communication
The Center for Health Communication prepares public health leaders of all kinds to effectively communicate critical health information, influence policy decisions, counter misinformation, and increase the public’s trust in health expertise.
Run a “Digital Safety DiscoTech” with our DIY guide
Prepared by Samuel Mendez.
Our Digital Safety Kit for Public Health helps public health professionals and students reduce the harm of online harassment and anti-science aggression. But we recognize that it can be hard to know where to start. And we know it can be hard to make time to act on our recommendations on your own. So, we’re offering this DIY Digital Safety DiscoTech guide to help you create community spaces for digital safety at your organization.
Introduction
A DiscoTech is a drop-in supportive social space to get hands-on with technology—music, snacks, and party favors recommended! Think of it as a hackathon, but more fun and less intense. You don’t need to be an “expert” in digital safety to support your community in protecting their digital safety. In this spirit, we designed the instructions below so someone could guide others after doing it themselves. With a little prep, you can rely on people you already work with to run a Digital Safety DiscoTech. Credit to Diana J Nucera and Nina Bianchi at the Detroit Digital Justice Coalition for the original event format.
If you’re in-person, you can set up a station for each of the action items below. If you’re online, you can set up breakout rooms for each of them. The key is to create an open space for people to act and support each other.
If you get questions you can’t answer, compile them for an IT specialist at your organization.
Action items
Search for yourself and set up Google alerts
Discover what someone can learn about you through a few simple searches.
Set up two-factor authentication (2FA)
With 2FA, a stolen password alone won’t be enough to hack your account.
Make data deletion requests
If someone wants to find your home address, popular data brokers offer an easy place to start. Make data deletion requests or pay for a service to do it for you.
Change some passwords
If you change your passwords regularly, it’s less likely a leaked password will work if someone tries to use it.
Celebrate your progress
Getting comfortable with digital safety tools is a big deal. And that calls for acknowledgement of a job well done!
Make alternate contact info
The less you give out your personal contact info, the fewer potential leaks you might have to deal with.
Supplementary Materials
Instructions for support staff
Use this document to let your support staff about how the discotech will work.
Discotech table signs
This document contains the signs you should use at each table for the discotech. The signs include a QR code and a shortened link that can be used to access instructions for each action item.
Attendee welcome handout
Give this handout to attendees to explain the discotech to them.
Advertising flyer template
Use this Canva template to create a poster advertising the event.
Discotech playlist
Use our disco playlist for your event!