DIRECT Learning Series: data protection training and capacity building

The 5th workshop took place on October 2nd, 2024, in the context of the Data Rights and Enforcement through Community Trust (DIRECT) Learning Series, an ongoing thematic series of workshops with members of the DIRECT consortium, supported by Internews.

The main goal of the series is to address topics related to the protection of personal data from three guiding axes: i) capacity-building for civil society organizations to address challenges related to the development of personal data protection legislations; ii) responsiveness and direction of civil society organizations in defending data protection rights in different legislative contexts; and iii) enhancement of the resilience and sustainability of civil society organizations through the strengthening of networks and resources led and provided by partner organizations.

This session was presented by Data Privacy Brasil, based on its expertise, on the topic of the use of data protection training and capacity building in the context of a comprehensive strategy to develop a data protection culture. 

Considering that different civil society organizations in the field of human and digital rights conduct trainings and capacity building, the main goal of this first thematic workshop was to:

• Understand the role of capacity building and training initiatives for the development of a data protection culture; 
• And comprehend what are the values and challenges of such initiatives;

The presentation by Mariana Rielli, co-director of Data Privacy Brasil, was drawn upon concrete experiences carried out by the institution over the past few years, through its educational focus. In this sense, some questions were raised with the intention of provoking reflections on the value and challenges of educational activities when they are also part of an advocacy strategy: i) how can we leverage the capacity and structure already in place to maximize impact across other areas and initiatives? ii) how can we be more intentional and strategic about this type of integration? iii) when does it make sense to focus on capacity building strategy to reach broader advocacy goals? iv) how to navigate various challenges when education and policy mix up?

Moving forward, Mariana mentioned that one of the main pillars of Data Privacy Brasil’s work is that every course, training, and capacity-building activity is informed by the research conducted within the institution. Therefore, such activities should not be considered an end in themselves, but rather a means to achieve a broader strategy on the topic of data protection. In light of this, and considering the potential variety of target audiences interested in these topics, one key element in developing a successful educational strategy is the need to tailor the training to the specific needs of different audiences.  

One example of a successful case provided by Mariana was the training conducted for community leaders and social movements, assisted by the Public Defender’s Office of the state of Bahia, on digital rights, in which participants from both the social movements and the public defender’s office could serve as vectors for spreading this knowledge.

Alongside Mariana, Fernanda Martins, co-director of InternetLab, provided a brief presentation on their experience in conducting and developing a one-week school focused on strengthening the relationship between human and digital rights, which was also designed to vocalize and disseminate the knowledge accumulated over the 10 years of the organization’s existence. The main goal of the school was to create a multi-stakeholder environment to understand how different sectors can be better prepared to address issues related to digital platforms that emerge from a specific social context, such as the impacts of artificial intelligence; content moderation; and technology facilitated gender-based violence.

Value and challenges of focusing and implementing training as advocacy strategies

After the presentations made by Mariana and Fernanda, a short activity was conducted with the participants through a Padlet, in which they were asked about what were the value and challenges of focusing and implementing training as a broader data protection advocacy strategy. 

In terms of values and opportunities, the answers pointed toward the possibility of disseminating knowledge produced by civil society organizations focused on human rights and/or digital rights; the opportunity to educate individuals about the importance of digital rights and personal data protection, as well as providing the right tools for them to better advocate for their rights; the potential to engage new actors in digital rights and data protection topics; and the creation of trust among different stakeholders through the dissemination of reliable information.

On the other hand, some challenges were highlighted, such as, for example, resource limitations in general; the need to stay constantly updated in a very dynamic field; the difficulties of personalizing courses according to the target audience, sometimes having to reconcile the different interests of various stakeholders; challenges related to the potential difficulty in understanding technical language were also pointed out. Finally, the challenges of conducting follow-ups on courses and measuring their impact were mentioned.

Open mic

During the open mic session, the discussion around impact measurement of training activities was also discussed more deeply, in which participants showed that it would be important to develop tools to assess how such activities impact subjects and if, after the training, they are more equipped to deal with issues related to data protection and digital rights. 

Another topic discussed was related to the fact that maybe guaranteeing data protection could not be considered as a pressing issue for a significant portion of the society, when we consider other social issues that emerge from different countries’ contexts. In this sense, the training could leverage the establishment of direct connections between digital rights and personal data protection, and other social issues, as well as the relationship between ensuring personal data protection and the safeguarding of other fundamental rights.

Conclusion

In summary, the workshop aimed to demonstrate that conducting training and capacity building can be a powerful advocacy strategy for ensuring personal data protection, as it operates at the educational level and in raising awareness among the target audiences of such activities. However, even though these activities have the potential to help build a data protection culture, there are some challenges that need to be overcome for training and educational activities to be successful, and fulfill their objective of serving as a means to implement advocacy strategies for personal data protection.