Online security and privacy includes issues such as protecting data, protecting identity (the right to communicate free of the threat of surveillance and interception) and protecting against computer viruses. As media workers and human rights organisations around the world make increasing use of online technologies, there is a corresponding increase in the need for skills, knowledge, and tools to ensure that the use of technology is both effective and secure. This need is especially acute in the case of groups operating under repressive political conditions or in situations of conflict, where the challenge is to gather, protect and disseminate information effectively in a way which minimises risk to activists. The APC Internet Rights Charter states that people communicating on the internet must have the right to use tools which encode messages to ensure secure, private and anonymous communication.

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Source: "African journalists trained in how to communicate securely online" (APCNews and Toni Eliasz, 30 September 2004), Take Back the Tech! and APC Internet Rights Charter