Academic Freedom First Aid Kit for Digital Security
A key resource for protecting against targeted attacks.
One aspect of the Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom's mission is to develop resources and information that help folks respond when their academic freedom rights are under direct attack.
We’ve previously published information on the threats on executive power, institutional accreditation, resources for traveling, syllabus language for supporting academic freedom, and an earlier project by today’s guest, Anna Feder, about “Faculty on the Front Lines” who have been retaliated against by their institutions.
As the recent cyber ransom threat by hackers via the Canvas learning management system illustrated, digital security is a real and growing concern. In partnership with the AAUP and CDAF, Anna Feder has put together a one-sheet source of information on digital security and a short video with more details. These are some highlights of a larger resource that she developed for CDAF last year, called the Academic Freedom First Aid Kit. Honestly, this stuff can get a little scary, but this is why these resources are all the more timely.
I’ve linked the resources at the bottom, but first, I wanted to talk to Anna to get more background about the project.
John Warner: I think if you talked to most people in higher ed, even just a few years ago, about the need to practice digital security in order to guard against targeted harassment, they would have thought the dangers were pretty remote, but it seems like this has changed.
Anna Feder: I want to start with a disclaimer: I am not an expert in digital security, just a person with my own privacy concerns because of the organizing work I am engaged in, and I wanted to help keep my communities safer. I started gathering these in one of those communities last year and was then hired by CDAF to further develop them as part of the Academic Freedom Field Guide.
The threat landscape has changed significantly in the last few years, as has the nature of those threats and the potential adversaries, which now includes the federal government. Threat modeling is a concept familiar in activist communities for some time. This process involves identifying the information you aim to protect, who you want to protect it from, the threat severity, and the level of inconvenience you are willing to accept to protect it. It is widely recognized that threats against educators have increased, especially for those addressing topics such as genocide, the Middle East, ethnic studies, gender, and for those holding any type of visa.
John Warner: When we use the term “digital security,” what exactly does that encompass?
Anna Feder: Digital security generally refers to practices that limit access to personally identifiable information online. Given the widespread availability of personal data through data brokers and the lack of comprehensive legislation to protect it, maintaining privacy presents a significant challenge. Digital security also includes safeguarding all information transmitted through digital channels, which can be accessed with or without consent. Many educators I work with express concerns about their devices—such as phones, tablets, or laptops—being seized at international borders, accessed by law enforcement during protests (which can be done without our knowledge), or even examined by their own institutions.
John Warner: I think it’s important to note that the risks are real and you have to take affirmative steps, but we’re not talking anything too onerous, right? It seems like a combination of common sense and reasonable vigilance.
Anna Feder: It’s a spectrum. That’s why threat modeling should be the first step. Everyone should work to remove their information from data brokers, either by signing up for a paid service like DeleteMe or Onerep or taking the time to request that their information be removed directly from these brokers. Everyone should use two-factor authentication, random passwords, and use a password manager like BitWarden. We are all susceptible to data breaches and hacks, regardless of our profession. The question of whether you need to use Signal with disappearing messages, ProtonMail, and have your iPhone in lockdown mode at all times depends upon the type of security concerns you have. Are you regularly traveling across international borders? Are you engaged in organizing targeted by NSPM-7 (National Security Presidential Memorandum-7)? Have you been targeted by right-wing operatives for your scholarship or extramural speech?
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Thanks to Anna for pulling these resources together.
These are a few of the considerations when determining how extensive your security measures might be in order to minimize the impact of threats you are likely to encounter. We all face some level of threat, so this could be a good opportunity to familiarize yourself with these starting points and continue to reflect on your needs as circumstances evolve. Even more resources can be found at: www.aaup.org/cdaf.
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The views expressed in this newsletter are those of individual contributors and not those of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) or the AAUP’s Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom.