Traditional and new features of ALL DIGITAL Week 2018 in Lithuania

And, while the aim of the campaign is to continuously improve digital skills to better adapt to the changing work environment, we must also consider safety online. As a result, this year, the national coordinator association Langas į ateitį (part of the Lithuanian Safer Internet Centre (SIC)) shared its responsibility for organising the campaign with the National Digital Coalition of Lithuania.

In this edition, 64 different offline and online events took place across Lithuania. The activities attracted over 6,500 people, including school children, civil servants, librarians, seniors and other interested participants. The activities touched upon an array of different content areas – threats and opportunities online, fake news, issues relating to the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), basic computer classes, mobile phone and internet use, and so on.

Emotional affection can be used against us
On the very first day of the campaign, 50 youngsters gathered in the National Library. Tomas Čeponis, a representative of the Strategic Communication Department of the Lithuanian Armed Forces, gave a presentation on recent changes in the information environment: fake news, bullying and how every citizen must be prepared to recognise the threats and protect him or herself.

"You should not be surprised that the relationship with information is most often driven by sympathy: emotional affection which can be used against us. Therefore, it is necessary to develop the ability to separate the true message from the false. One of the indicators: perhaps the message is too good or attractive to be real", commented Tomas.

Do not rush to provide personal data
Dovilė Almanienė, advisor to the Prevention Division of the State Data Protection Inspectorate, presented a lecture on personal data protection regarding the new GDPR. The lecture was devoted to users with an explanation of what personal data is, how to protect your personal data, and challenges faced by the users.

Dovilė pointed out the responsibility of all when providing personal data online, especially for direct marketing. She commented: "Often, we too easily share our phone numbers and email addresses without knowing which data will be used later, for example by participating in various lotteries or games, and then being monitored by the flow of direct marketing communications".

Dovilė went on to explain the rights of users and their personal data after 25 May 2018, when the General Data Protection Regulation comes into force in the EU.

Primary school students are active learners on online safety
Representatives of the Lithuanian Safer Internet Youth Forum visited four primary schools to deliver an interactive lesson titled "Be safe on the internet". A total of 96 children participated in the lessons and learned safe behaviour rules on Facebook, including:

• Do I need to care about "friends"?
• How to recognise cyber bullying?
• What can be transmitted to public spaces (photos, videos, and so on)?
• How to communicate on smart phones and create blogs safely?

The experience was so successful that it may become a constant activity of the campaign in the future.

Find out more about the work of the Lithuanian Safer Internet Centre (SIC), including its awareness raising, helpline, hotline and youth participation services.