Everything from the very real threats journalists face from internet surveillance, to losing control of personal data through mobile messaging applications were all canvassed at DW Akademie’s Digital Safety for Journalists panel discussion at the ARD-Hauptstadtstudio in Berlin.

Joining DW Akademie’s Holger Hank on the panel were Anne Roth (Tactical Technology Collective), Zahi Alawi (DW Akademie), Malte Spitz (German Greens Party), John Goetz (NDR) and William Echikson (Google).

Along with discussing the need for media organizations to be proactive and train journalists to use encryption and secure digital communications, the data retention policies of governments and technology firms, and how the internet should be controlled were also lively debated.

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The revelations into the electronic surveillance activities of the US National Security Agency and its Prism system have shown that no one is safe from being spied on. However, journalists can still use some clever tools and open source programs to ensure more security browsing the web, sending emails and communicating with colleagues and sources.

Sandra Mamitzsch of re:publica, Germany’s largest conference on internet and society, offered useful insights on how to start securing your data during her workshop How to keep the NSA out of your Email – a Practical Guide to more Security for your Data at the DLDWomen conference.

“Everything you do online is only as secure as your passwords and your software” says Sandra Mamitzsch. “So use open source wherever possible.”

Here are her best tips:

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This is a continuation of our series exploring online security. In the previous post, we looked at how to create and manage secure passwords. But what if your password was cracked and third parties gained access to your laptop, PC or USB drive? Don’t panic, the chances are still good that your data is safe – all you need to do is to encrypt and hide it in an invisible folder. In this post, DW Akademie’s Natalia Karbasova provides an overview of free tools to encrypt and hide sensitive data on your devices.

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