WhatsApp has become an integral part of our daily communication, allowing us to connect with friends, family, and colleagues instantly.

However, with its widespread usage, the risk of unauthorized access to our WhatsApp accounts has also increased.

One such threat is cloning, where someone creates a duplicate of your WhatsApp account on another device without your knowledge.

This can lead to privacy breaches, identity theft, and even financial fraud.

To safeguard your WhatsApp account from being cloned, here are some essential steps you can take:

Enable Two-Step Verification: WhatsApp offers a two-step verification feature that adds an extra layer of security to your account.

When enabled, it requires a PIN code to verify your phone number on WhatsApp, preventing unauthorized access even if someone clones your SIM card. To enable two-step verification, go to WhatsApp Settings > Account > Two-step verification > Enable.

Avoid Sharing Verification Codes: WhatsApp verification codes are sent via SMS or call when setting up the app on a new device or after reinstallation. Never share these codes with anyone, as they can be used to verify a cloned account on another device. If you receive such a code without initiating it, it could indicate an attempt to clone your account.

Keep WhatsApp Updated: Regularly update your WhatsApp application to the latest version available. Developers often release security patches and updates to address vulnerabilities and enhance user privacy. Keeping your app updated reduces the risk of exploitation by malicious actors attempting to clone your account.

Beware of Phishing Attempts: Be cautious of messages or emails claiming to be from WhatsApp asking for personal information or verification codes.

WhatsApp will never ask you to provide sensitive information via email, and official communication typically occurs within the app itself. Verify the authenticity of any such requests before responding.

Monitor WhatsApp Web Sessions: WhatsApp Web allows you to use WhatsApp on your computer by scanning a QR code with your phone.

Ensure that you log out from WhatsApp Web sessions when not in use and periodically check the list of active sessions in WhatsApp settings. If you notice any unfamiliar devices or locations, revoke access immediately.

Secure Your Smartphone: Protect your smartphone with a strong passcode or biometric authentication (such as fingerprint or face recognition).

This prevents unauthorized physical access to your device, reducing the likelihood of someone cloning your WhatsApp account using your phone.

Enable App Lock: Many smartphones offer built-in app lock features or third-party apps that allow you to lock specific applications, including WhatsApp, with a PIN or biometric authentication.

Enabling app lock adds an extra layer of security, ensuring that even if someone gains access to your device, they cannot open your WhatsApp without the additional authentication.

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TECHDIGEST – In anticipation of the upcoming August 23 elections in Zimbabwe, Paradigm Initiative (PIN) and Gender Media Connect (GMC) have joined forces to host an informative session dedicated to raising awareness about digital rights among female journalists and women in politics.

During the session, journalists were educated about pressing digital rights matters and were sensitized to the significance of capturing stories related to digital rights.

Bridgette Ndlovu, the Partnerships and Engagements Officer at PIN, emphasized that the occurrence of internet shutdowns and deliberate reduction of internet speeds has become a widespread occurrence within the African digital rights landscape.

She stated, “Digital rights stand as an extension of human rights. The advent of digital technologies has revolutionized the exercise, safeguarding, and violation of fundamental rights.

“In Africa, we’re witnessing trends in digital rights violations such as internet shutdowns, dissemination of false information, online gender-based violence, and hate speech.

“These incidents have now crept into the electoral phase as political entities and candidates vie to amplify their political influence.”

Ndlovu underscored the responsibility of journalists to not only advocate for the safeguarding of digital rights but also to report instances of digital rights violations.

“Your role as journalists involves shedding light on digital rights violations, thereby fostering awareness of these challenges within communities.

“We’re aware that Zimbabwe has previously shut down the internet, and as the election approaches, our focus remains on enlightening the public about digital rights, urging their respect.”

Furthermore, Ndlovu highlighted that compromising digital rights during elections could detrimentally impact campaign efforts, given that political parties rely heavily on social media platforms to communicate their political messages.

“The breach of digital rights would not only hamper campaigning activities but also hinder the circulation of messages related to civic engagement, combat misinformation, and limit access to information about the electoral process,” she affirmed.

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TECHDIGEST – Paradigm Initiative (PIN), a social enterprise that builds ICT-enabled support systems and advocates for digital rights in order to improve the livelihoods of under-served young Africans, has instituted a court action against the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).

The organization has asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to determine, among other things, whether NIITDA has the powers to propose or formulate any regulation, framework or guideline which directs or purports to direct, mandate or purport to mandate, dictates or purports to dictate the protection of personal data in Nigeria.

According to Paradigm Initiative, the growing number of people with access to the internet and the increasing usage of digital technology in business, healthcare, commerce, banking, and other parts of the economy has created the need to develop more laws and policies around these issues.

A statement by PIN circulated by Judith Ogutu, Communications Manager, reads:

“… the power of an agency to make laws and policies on any issues must be given by law and in ensuring the rule of law is adhered to, we have asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to determine the following questions :

“1. Whether the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has the powers to propose or formulate any regulation, framework or guideline which directs or purports to direct, mandate or purport to mandate, dictates or purports to dictate the protection of personal data in Nigeria.

“2. Whether the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) possesses the powers to propose or formulate any regulation, framework and guideline which directs or purports to direct, mandates or purports to mandate, dictates or purports to dictate the issuance and enforcement of sanctions for non-compliance thereto..

“These questions are important for existing and future policy and regulation formulation as they ensure that responses to emerging threats are meticulous and effective.

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“Actions mandated by laws are legitimized by the people and have contingencies to possible issues.

“Any agency acting beyond legal authority puts the people and the aspect of governance under their mandate at risk.

“As a regulatory agency, NITDA is a creation of the law and as an organization that enforces the law, it must not be seen to act outside limits of the law.

“This suit is without prejudice to NITDA’s ongoing attempt to amend its laws to give it additional powers and to legitimize actions it already undertook within its existing mandate.

“It is our prerogative to see the rule of law adhered to especially by regulatory agencies of government as we await the determination of the suit”.

NITDA has always maintained that it derives its operational guidelines from the National Information Technology Development Act (2007) which empowers it to ‘…develop and regulate Information Technology in Nigeria, hence “the National Information Technology Development Agency is empowered by its enabling Act to create a framework for the planning, research, development, standardization, application, coordination, monitoring, evaluation and regulation of Information Technology practices in Nigeria by developing standards, guidelines and regulations for that purpose.

“This piece of legislation provides for the establishment of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) to address the breath of its mandates”.

When contacted, Hadiza Umar (Mrs), the Head of External Communications at NITDA, told TechEconomy that “…as at today, NITDA is yet to receive court summon as confirmed by the Head of the Legal Unit”.

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TECHDIGEST – The Digital Rights and Inclusion Forum 2022 organized by Paradigm Initiative (PIN) recently ended in Kenya with the launch of PIN’s 2021 Annual Digital Rights and Inclusion Report – LONDA. The forum was organized by PIN  and a host of country partners across 17 African countries from April 12th to May 20th.

Londa 2021 expands on last year’s report with findings from 22 countries, examining themes of privacy, freedom of expression, access to information, segmentation and exclusion, digital transformation, affordability, gender, and others within existing legislative frameworks, and against the backdrop of a widening digital divide. This edition captures the gaps and proffers recommendations to achieve a digitally inclusive and rights-respecting Africa.

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Executive Director, Paradigm Initiative, Mr. Gbenga Sesan, highlighted the importance of Londa in Africa and need for ground breaking rights-respecting frameworks.
His words: “Africa needs to make an urgent choice between focusing on clampdowns and maximising digital opportunities so we don’t miss out on the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). As Paradigm Initiative’s 2021 Londa report shows, yet again, many of the 22 African countries featured in the report are too busy violating digital rights to focus on the digital opportunities that the COVID-19 pandemic has put a spotlight on their relevance.

“The report is timely as it assesses the state of digital rights and inclusion in Africa, and also provides recommendations on what each country must do to move towards realising the huge gains that rights-respecting and inclusive digital policies and practices bring.”

The Digital Rights and Inclusion Forum brought together over 800 delegates and participants for 39 days to dissect the state of digital rights and inclusion in Africa in 18 virtual sessions and 16 in-person sessions and was attended by experts, stakeholders, and advocates within the digital rights ecosystem in Africa to deconstruct and demystify digital rights and inclusion, sharing recommendations for a proper digital rights implementation within Africa, in a statement by PIN’s Communications officer, Mr Valery Njiaba in a media briefing closing the event.

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TECHDIGEST – Paradigm Initiative (PIN), a Pan-African social enterprise is set to host a series of digital rights advocacy sessions dubbed Digi-Talks with Focus across 10 African countries using its short film Focus, a visual representation of its 2020 annual report LONDA that highlights digital rights and inclusion infractions in 20 African countries.

The Digi-Talks with Focus, according to Valery Njiaba | Communications Officer | Paradigm Initiative, will run between February 15th and March 7th, 2022, in Cameroon, Malawi, Kenya, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Ghana, Tanzania, and Zambia.

“It will feature the screening of Focus, a look at the findings of the Londa report, an open conversation on the state of digital rights and inclusion, questions and answers, and debates aimed at enhancing digital rights in all the host countries.

“Paradigm Initiative will convene these sessions with local partners in each country bringing together diverse audiences over half a day”, he said.

The sessions, TechEconomy.ng gathered, will also provide opportunities for engaging conversations and to make key recommendations to enhance digital rights on the continent.

To enhance digital rights and combat online violations in Africa, PIN will be presenting its tools of impact such as ripoti.africa a platform that enables online users to report digital rights violations in Africa including breaches of online privacy, and ayeta.africa a toolkit for African digital rights actors aimed at addressing the growing need to safeguard activists, journalists, whistleblowers, and others working with sensitive information in the global South.

Paradigm Initiative is a Pan-African social enterprise that works to connect underserved young Africans with digital opportunities and ensures the protection of their rights.

Across its regional offices in Cameroon, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and beyond, Paradigm Initiative works to connect underserved African youth with improved livelihoods through digital inclusion and digital rights programs.

Source : Techeconomy.ng

Link:https://techeconomy.ng/2022/02/paradigm-initiative-set-to-host-digi-talks-with-focus-to-advocate-for-digital-rights/

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TECHDIGEST – Social enterprise Paradigm Initiative (PIN), known for building an ICT-enabled support system and advocating digital rights to improve livelihoods for under-served youth, is premiering its second high definition short film – FOCUS, a short film showcasing the state of digital rights and inclusion across Africa, at Film House Cinema, Lekki in the presence of diplomatic representatives, stakeholder, media and movie lovers.

PIN works to connect underserved young Africans with digital opportunities and ensures protection of their rights. Across Africa, they work to connect African youth with improved livelihoods through their digital inclusion and digital rights programmes.

Directed by Tolulope Ajayi, Focus is a short film drawn from PIN’s 2020 annual digital rights and inclusion report dubbed Londa. The report depicts the state of digital rights and inclusion in 20 African
Countries.

PIN monitors the environment, documents violations, and reports on the state of digital rights and inclusion in Africa annually. Londa is a title of Zulu origin calling for action to protect or defend. The annual report is an advocacy tool for engaging with different stakeholders in the reported countries, serves as a yardstick for measuring performance, and provides critical recommendations for improving the digital space.

PIN Chief Operating Officer, Nnenna Paul Ugochukwu said: “Focus is an exploratory way used by PIN to best impact the society through storytelling while spotlighting key issues plaguing the digital rights and inclusion ecosystems. With this short film we hope to inspire change and bring about radical thinking and adjustment.”

Through the digital rights and inclusion community, meaningful strides in some African Countries are being taken to bridge the digital divide. The report also acknowledges the positive developments in the environment.

The 2021 consolidated Londa edition analyses the state of digital rights and inclusion on the continent, examines violations and gaps, investigates the use and application of policy and legislation, highlights milestones, and proffers recommendations for improving the digital landscape in Africa.

This edition captures among other issues, the digital divide worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic and unearths infractions on different thematic areas such as privacy, access to information, and freedom of expression with the legislative and policy background well enunciated.

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TECH DIGEST – Five non-governmental organizations and four journalists have filed a suit against the Federal Government at the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice in Abuja.

The NGO applicants are asking the Court to declare the indefinite suspension of Twitter in Nigeria a violation of their human rights under international law, order the Government to immediately rescind the suspension order, and compensate them for the violation of their rights.

The NGO applicants in the suit are Media Rights Agenda (MRA), Paradigm Initiative (PIN), Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ), the International Press Centre (IPC), and Tap Initiative for Citizens Development (TICD) while the journalists are Mr. David Hundeyin, Mr. Samuel Ogundipe, Ms Blessing Oladunjoye, and Mr. Nwakamri Zakari Apollo.

The suit, lodged with number ECW/CCJ/APP/29/21 ECW/CCJ/APP/29/21, in a 73-page documentation, was filed on their behalf by Abuja-based human rights and free expression lawyer, Mrs. Mojirayo Ogunlana Nkanga, under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Revised ECOWAS Treaty, and the Nigerian Constitution, among others.

They are claiming that Nigeria’s ongoing suspension of Twitter, which came into effect on or around June 4, 2021, violated their right to freedom of expression and interfered with the ability of the journalists to do their work.

The NGOs and journalists are also alleging that the general situation in Nigeria with respect to human rights, has created an environment where freedom of expression is stifled, which has contributed to creating a chilling effect on press and media freedom and which the ongoing suspension of Twitter is a continuation of.

According to them, Nigeria has consented to be bound by the obligation to respect and protect the right to freedom of expression under the ICCPR and the ACHPR and therefore, any limitation imposed by the government on the right to freedom of expression can only be justifiable where the restriction is provided by law, serves a legitimate aim, and is necessary and proportionate in a democratic society.

Contending that these three conditions must all be met before any restriction on the right to freedom of expression can be considered legitimate, they noted that the suspension of Twitter is not provided by law, that there is no justification for it under Nigeria’s domestic laws, and that it was done by the government in an arbitrary manner in circumstances where there was no public or judicial oversight, transparency or accountability.

The NGOs and journalists are asking the Court to declare the indefinite suspension of Twitter a continuous violation of their human rights under international law, particularly the right to seek and receive information as well as the right to express and disseminate opinions under Article 9(1) and (2) of the African Charter; Article 19(2) of the ICCPR and the rights of journalists under Article 66(2)(c) of the Revised ECOWAS Treaty.

They are also seeking a declaration that the Government’s directive, through the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), for the deactivation of Twitter accounts in Nigeria violates their human rights under international law and that the threat by the Attorney-General of the Federation to criminally prosecute anybody found to be using Twitter in Nigeria following the suspension of the platform also violates their human rights under international law.

The NGOs and the journalists are therefore urging the court to issue orders mandating the Government to immediately take all necessary measures to rescind the suspension of Twitter in Nigeria; to take all necessary measures to guarantee non-recurrence in order to prevent the same violation occurring again in future; compelling the Government to issue adequate reparations, including restitution, compensation and measures of satisfaction to them to be specified and submitted to the court; as well as to issue an order of injunction restraining the Government, its servants and agents from imposing criminal sanctions on individuals, including the applicants, who use Twitter or any other social media service provider.

No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.

The suit is being litigated with the support of Media Defence, a London-based NGO, which provides legal assistance to journalists, citizen journalists and independent media.

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TECH DIGEST – A civil society organization, Paradigm Initiative (PIN), has expressed its disappointment over the Federal Government of Nigeria’s decision to shut down Twitter’s service in the country.
Recall that the Federal Government of Nigeria announced its suspension of Twitter operations, on Friday, June 4, 2021, while accusing the company allowing its application being used as a platform for activities capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.

Many Nigerians read the announcement of the ban on Twitter as a reflection of the importance of the platform and other digital (social media) platforms to Nigerians in accessing information and disseminating the same, says PIN.

The CSO said that the directive by the Nigerian government is at its core, an abuse of the rights of Nigerians not just to freedom of expression, but many other rights guaranteed in the Nigerian 1999 Constitution (as amended), the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

“This suspension, which is a reaction of the Nigerian government to the company’s enforcement of its platform rules, is aimed at insulating the government from criticism, especially by Nigeria’s youth who are over 70% of the country’s population.

“It must be noted that Nigeria’s President has notably been insulated from every form of public accountability. He is perhaps the only president since the country’s return to democracy in 1999 who never grants live interviews or holds media chats. This move is therefore aimed at making him unaccountable to the people of Nigeria who constantly take to social media platforms to share their views on the actions and policies of the government.

“It is evident that shutting down Twitter is illegal and illegitimate policies such as this are unacceptable!

“A 2016 United Nations resolution affirms that the rights that citizens have offline must apply online. Coincidentally, this resolution was co-sponsored by Nigeria with others. We urge the Nigerian authorities to respect and enforce citizens’ fundamental rights as provided for by the Nigerian constitution and International human rights treaties that Nigeria is a party to.

“We will further contact the Ministry of Information to get exact details of this announcement, and the legal framework that supports such undemocratic pronouncement. We advise all users of twitter and other social media platforms in Nigeria to download virtual private networks (VPNs) to enable them continue to use the platforms for their economic survival and social and political engagements while we all push back on this draconian order by the Nigerian government.

PIN also offered guide on how to stay online in cases of network disruptions and download the Ayeta toolkit, designed in anticipation of such dictatorial acts.

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TECH DIGEST – Paradigm Initiative (PIN) has again restates why digital gender Equality should take the front burner.
PIN has joined the world to commemorate International Girls in ICT Day under the theme: Connected Girls, Creating Brighter Futures.

“As the world celebrates this day, we’re reflecting on the need to close the digital gender divide, including more girls participating in the technology revolution”, a statement endorsed by the Communications Officer, Paradigm Initiative, Valery Njiaba, reads.

In a statement by ITU in 2015, “ITU estimates a skills shortfall of over two million jobs in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector within the next five years. Girls and young women who learn coding, apps development and computer science will not only be well-placed for a successful career in the ICT sector, but ICT skills are rapidly becoming a strong advantage for students in just about any other field they might choose to pursue.”

Njiaba said, although ICT skill may have become a substantial advantage for students; however, five years after this statement, the numbers of women accessing and using ICT are lower than men.

In a WEF report on The Future of Job, 2016, it is estimated that 65 per cent of children attending primary school will be working in the types of jobs that do not exist today.

“Sadly, girls in Africa (especially those in underserved/marginalized communities and groups) are likely to be left behind in this future because discouraged from attempting to access quality education (including Digital literacy training),” he said.

According to UNICEF on girls’ education, “132 million girls are out of school, including 34.3 million of primary school age, 30 million of lower-secondary school age, and 67.4 million upper-secondary school age”.

“If we must connect girls, invest in them, and develop to create a desired brighter future.

“It is most urgent and essential that digital gender equity takes the front burner; equipping girls with ICT skills can economically empower millions of girls (who would become women) and accelerate countries’ economic growth worldwide”.

For the achievement of digital gender equity and connecting more girls to ICT opportunities, PIN urge that:

More support is given to girls from a young age to increase their interest and self-esteem in ICT

Gender biases that view technology as a male domain shouldbe erased

Policymakers research and provide new approaches to enable girls to access digital literacy skills and access to the Internet.

The government works with private sector businesses to create learning centres where more girls can access ICT tools and skills.

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