Calgary Youth Cyber Safety Summit showcases risks of digital world

Being behind a screen can give a sense of protection, however young people are opening themselves up to become a cyber victim if they aren’t careful.

That’s why Youth Link Calgary in partnership with Rogers, has joined forces with the Calgary Police Service (CPS) to combat cybercrime and protect youth from cyber predators.

“We’ve seen in the past devastating consequences as has been mentioned through things like online bullying and stuff like that, that has a big impact,” said Chief Cst. Mark Neufeld. “We’re seeing situations where young people have been basically extorted into posting pictures, compromising pictures of themselves that have then been used — and you know when this things get to the Internet you can’t get them back right?

“Or it’s very difficult to get them back and then also in some of the worst case scenarios we’ve seen situations where people are trying to lure a young people into situations where they can actually traffic them for sexual exploitation.”

In the inaugural Youth Cyber Safety Summit they provide the necessary knowledge and tools to safely navigate the complex digital world.

“These are the laws, the strategies and consequences about sharing content, around consent, harassment, bullying and sextortion,” said Tara Robinson, executive director of the YouthLink Calgary Police Interpretive Centre.

CPS highlights the importance of youth understanding online hygiene, the risks, and consequences of not being careful on the web — how much information we share and with who is the main issue.

“So they had a thing where there was a post online and from like three posts you can find out everything like what city they live in, what school they go to, who their friends are, what are their hobbies and like basically all their private information,” said summit participant Areeb Khan. “At first I thought like, let say I’m using Google, I knew that the Google people could see my history but now I know that the police people can also see everything.”

Creating strong passwords and avoiding interactions with strangers are some of the recommendations.

“There’s a lot of people on Instagram that use catfishes account which is like where they fake who they are, they might even say they’re a girl when they’re really a male,” participant Lara Moussa said. “I just have to make sure I know who they are; if I don’t know who they are, I usually either block them or just not answer what they’re saying.”

The summit offers a series of informative workshops, focusing on key areas such as the science of social media and mental health, cyber crime prevention, and the creation of a secure digital footprint.