Workshop to educate blind people about staying safe during online transactions

With the growing popularity of assistive technologies, visually impaired people are increasingly turning to online transactions. But this comes with many dangers and to make them aware of these dangers and teach them ways to stay safe, the Blind Graduates Forum of India (BGFI) is organising a cyber security workshop on 22 February at the National Association of the Blind, Delhi.

How do you protect passwords? What are some of the ways to guard your privacy online? How does one safeguard against financial frauds and data breaches? What is phishing?

Questions that all of us should be asking in this day and age when online financial transactions have become the norm. Cyber safety is critical today, especially more so for the visually impaired community which has a growing presence online.

Growing online presence of visually impaired community

Toe educate the community about ways to stay safe, the Blind Graduates Forum of India, Delhi chapter, is organising a day-long workshop in New Delhi today at the National Association of the Blind. The topic of the workshop is Preventive Cyber Protection for Everyday Digital Life and imparting these lessons are trainers from Ernst & Young India (EY) LLP, a multinational professional services company with a global presence. The workshop is from 2 pm to 5 pm and registration is free.

Sadaf Khan, an HR analyst in the cyber security domain with a Big 4 consulting firm and a key member of BGFI’s Mumbai chapter believes that cyber security awareness is a critical need for the visually impaired community in India. Post demonetisation the community has faced many challenges, the key one being inaccessibility of the new Indian currency notes. All these developments have pushed visually impaired people to turn to online transactions.

There are many factors that have led the community to turn to online platforms. There are many pay wallets available and it is hard for a layperson to identify the safe ones to use. The other issue is when to say no to giving data about yourself. When we use GPS we give access to our location and the microphone and we don’t know the implications. The data gathered gives a lot of information and this is used in ways we don’t understand. There are no laws around them either unlike in the West. – Sadaf Khan, Blind Graduates Forum of India

Visually impaired more vulnerable to fraud

The workshop will address these issues and make people aware of the repercussions of not paying heed. “There are QR code-related frauds too. On some platforms you have to pay through QR and they come in attractive schemes. We run ourselves into a lot of risk being visually impaired”, adds Sadaf. “Even sighted people while helping us cannot identify if the QR is genuine or not”.

Being visually impaired, the community is more dependent on technology but unaware of the enormous risks they face. The workshop aims to teach them ways to keep themselves secure.

“This is very important as we rely way more on technology than others”, says Aditi Shah, a cyber security professional and a volunteer with BGFI in Mumbai. “It is an easier accessible alternative to doing things as traditional ways are inaccessible. A session like this would help all visually impaired people to feel empowered and aware of how to stays safe while doing digital transactions. They will know much information to offer offer about themselves on the web. We need more sessions like these for a safer digital world for all of us”.

To register, contact Ratul Arora at +91-97118 81717 or Umang Mehndiratta at +91-98714 98576.
 
You can reach the venue by taking the Pink and Magenta lines of the Delhi Metro. It is also approachable by bus.

Also Read:

• Some tips to keep in mind when interacting with a visually impaired person