This article appeared first on MIT Enterprise Forum Pan Arab Region . “It was my mistake and I am sorry.” This is what Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg told the US Congress back in 2018 when asked about the data misuse by Cambridge Analytica to publish targeted political ads to Facebook users[...]
Surveillance cameras are spread in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, with unparalleled chaos. While the responsibility of who manages the data produced by those cameras is unclear, an even bigger question is, what purpose do they serve? The Municipality of Beirut operates more than two thousand public cameras, which record videos[...]
SMEX has developed a hotline to mitigate new threats to digital civic space in Lebanon. We provide technical advice and assistance to civil society groups, activists, lawyers, journalists, vulnerable groups, and human rights defenders in order to improve their digital security practices to stay safe online. SMEX is recruiting Digital[...]
As the Covid-19 virus continues to spread across the world, governments are adopting surveillance measures to track patients, raising privacy concerns. Lebanon, like many other countries, has launched digital tools to help diagnose and monitor the spread of the outbreak. The tools launched by the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health[...]
During Bread&Net 2019, the MENA Digital Threats and Controls session discussed the most prevalent types of digital threats and patterns in the region. Additionally, experts also explored the basic digital security controls that users can adopt to protect their digital existence. Ali Sibai, technologist and Rapid Response Network coordinator revealed[...]
With the spread of COVID-19, many firms, organizations, and universities have adopted work from home policies and more people than ever are using online conferencing tools. Zoom, one of the platforms that has gained the most popularity recently, has a number of privacy issues, including monitoring computer activity and collecting[...]
With more countries announcing a state of emergency in response to the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, organizations have begun adopting “work from home” policies. The number of organizations taking this approach will likely increase going forward and users and organizations must pay attention to their digital safety while working from[...]
We Demand Ministry of Telecommunications Open the Fixed and Mobile Internet Capacity and Reduce Prices During the COVID-19 Crisis. (Sign the petition here). In a decision to encourage citizens, including students, to stay home during Coronavirus crisis, the Lebanese government announced on Thursday, March 12, that Ogero, the national internet[...]
SMEX recently conducted research to assess the transparency of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Lebanon. Upon gathering information regarding licensed service providers in Lebanon through the Ministry of Telecommunication, we found that there are 114 licensed ISPs in the country: 39 ISPs have websites4 ISPs have a privacy policy on[...]
The National Council for Women (NCW) has demanded that Google ceases the broadcast and promotion of the Salmonella song – which was released by Tameem Youness on YouTube on the first day of 2020. The NCW based its demand on the Anti-Cyber and Information Technology Crimes law, according to the[...]
