As part of the Internet Society’s work to help newly connected people have a safer online experience, the first of our online trust and safety pilot training events took place in Thunder Bay, Canada, on 7 May 2026.
The training session was part of the Indigenous Connectivity Institute’s three-day connectivity workshop for Matawa Tribal Council. There were around 30 participants, including Matawa Youth Guardians, a program that trains youth to be environmental observers for their communities. Part of this role involves gathering community data for the Environmental Knowledge Lodge, where community science this securely stored, protected, and preserved for access only by the respective communities. Participants also included employees of Matawa First Nations’ Four Rivers Environmental Services Group.
Alongside introductions to online privacy, security and an overview on how to spot scams, the full day workshop helped participants develop personal online protection plans. The workshop was highly interactive, with participants of all skill levels actively participating and sharing examples that related to the program content. As a bonus, an Indigenous data sovereignty expert delivered a session after our workshop that helped participants understand how the security concepts in the workshop can support the Guardians’ work collecting and protecting environmental data for their communities.