Safety, Security and Gmail

Hi Everyone,

WOW! Yesterday we had our first orientation call and it was amazing! It is so energizing to hear all your voices together, asking questions, connecting. Thank you all for a very successful call (it was also one of the quietest ones yet!).

A quick note on safety and security as we get ready to send you your confirmation letters (of your participation in VOF) and your press passes. Many of you live in countries where journalists are often persecuted, and the freedom of speech laws are not very progressive. We want to ensure your safety and would like to request that if you live in the countries listed below, that you open a generic Gmail account. Gmail settings allow for more security and protection than most email accounts. You can chat with your midwife, mentor or other correspondents using gmail chat, which has high security protection.

What you need to do is open an account WITHOUT any identifying information (real name, contact information, etc). Then, make sure to go to your mail settings (see image with small icon), and select "always use https" under the Browser Connection selection (see attached image). Once you do this, please send us your new email account and we will update our records.

Then, we suggest you go to your PulseWire account and update the email associated with your account. Just got to "Edit Account" and you will see where to enter your new email address. One quick note--you may have noticed that when you receive a notification about a post from a PulseWire group, the content of that post is in the email. If you do not want the content of the posts to show in your new generic account, you need to turn change your notification status. Just go to your account, then select "Edit Account" and "Edit Notifications".

If you already have a Gmail account, we still suggest you create a new one that has no identifying personal information and hasn't been used before. Also, we'll soon be posting a short memo from Frank on other preventative security measures you can take!

Kashmir
Gambia
Nigeria
Zambia
Serbia
Uganda
Mexico
Cambodia
Nicaragua
Zimbabwe
Egypt
Thailand
Democratic Republic of Congo
Syria
Afghanistan
Philippines
Eritrea
China
Somalia
India
Nigeria
Cameroon