New Delhi: OLX, a global product and tech company and India’s no.1 classifieds business, has announced that it has partnered with Cyber Peace Foundation, a civil society organization and think tank of cyber security. Under this partnership, Cyber Peace Foundation will conduct workshops with users on how to stay safe on the Internet, including on C2C platforms so that they can get the most from their Internet experience. In the first phase of the initiative, OLX and Cyber Peace have rolled out workshops across the states of Karnataka and Haryana.
This partnership is a part of ongoing strategic initiatives of OLX towards enhancing trust and safety on their platform so users can make safer and more convenient transactions. OLX deploys a host of measures to combat fraudsters and enhance user safety on its platform. Multiple new features on its mobile app for example – AI backed security tips, better reporting of spam and offensive content alerts help to ensure the safety of users along with,in-app real-time safety tips and voice messaging features to avoid sharing phone numbers. The campaign will also entail set of volunteer groups in the two states targeted for conducting the workshops – Karnataka and Haryana, where these volunteer groups will actively assist the victims of fraud and provide the victims with technical and legal help.
The workshops focus on educating users on various threats online such as frauds – financial, phishing, skimming, cyber defamation, cyber bullying, stalking, child pornography and to empower them with the tools to be vigilant and aware to not only recognise them, but also report them and educate them on the process to follow to get the right legal recourse while seeking redressal. As part of this initiative, Cyber Peace is also assisting users’ who may have been a victim of cyber fraud to seek redressal for their individual case.
At a recent workshop conducted at DAV Public School Gurugram, its Principal Charu Maini, said, “Digitalization has brought the world closer and made life easy. However, it has also brought with it many threats and crimes too, making it ever so important to mentor our vulnerable young users about cyber ethics and safety, so that they are empowered netizens of tomorrow. I applaud the initiative taken by OLX in partnership with Cyber Peace Foundation in organising workshops to create responsible and aware digital consumers. This initiative is the need of the hour indeed!”
Highlighting the importance of the partnership, Lavanya Chandan, General Counsel, OLX India said, “With our partnership with Cyber Peace Foundation, we aim to intensify our efforts in promoting the safe use of the Internet. This partnership augments and aids our initiatives in this area, focused on creating a better Internet for everyone. Our interventions are holistic and include introducing newer safety features on our app/platform, working with law enforcement, a 24X7 helpline for customer safety issues, increased technology-based fraud detection and prevention. With Cyber Peace Foundation we are now also going directly to users to help equip them with the knowledge and confidence to use the Internet and digital platforms to their advantage. In a recent survey we conducted on Safer Internet Day earlier this year, we found that most netizens neglect cybersecurity best practices in their own personal lives and 67% admitted to skipping safety guidelines.”
“The objective of the workshop is to raise awareness about safety and security while transacting online. Education around platform-centric security tools and features along with holistic do’s and don’ts are important aspects of the workshops. The campaign will also create volunteer groups (Cyber Peace Corps), currently in the two states where we will conduct these workshops in, who will then be empowered to assist any cyber fraud victim with technical and legal help,” said Vineet Kumar, Founder, Cyber Peace Foundation. “We are really excited to be OLX’s partner in helping make the Internet a better place,” he added.
Over the course of the initiative, the workshops aim to train over 8000 individuals and 200 Cyber Peace Corps volunteers across 12 cities. In the first phase, two workshops have been held across the cities of Bengaluru and Gurugram. In the upcoming months, the camps will be held across 12 cities in Karnataka and Haryana.
