PIRGSPECTIVES January 2016

OPIRG MCMASTER

JANUARY-2016

PIRGSPECTIVES newsletter of OPIRG McMaster

Featured Event:

CVA VOLUNTEER FAIR! Interested in volunteering? How about getting to know the Hamilton community? Explore Hamilton and discover a new you through Community Volunteer Action (CVA)!

Sponsored by MSU Open Circle, CVA is a network of weekly groups where you volunteer with other McMaster students at placements across Hamilton.

Opportunities to support at-risk youth, newcomer populations, people experiencing homelessness, and adults living with disabilities await you!

EVENTS & WORKSHOPS

check out OPIRG’s event calendar at www.opirg.ca/ calendar

Your group facilitator helps you find your way to the placement and facilitates discussion for 15 min. after each volunteer session to help you reflect on your experiences and how these relate to larger societal issues.

Attend the Volunteer Fair for more information about this opportunity!

Date: January 7, 2016 Time: 5:30pm – 7:00pm Location: MUSC 311

CUP OF CONNECTIONS

Weekly drop in for tea/coffee #fairtrade Thursdays 2:30-4 MUSC 229

Looking for other opportunities? There are three streams of volunteering:

OPIRG.CA

Questions? Email cva@mcmaster.ca or visit our website!

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WORKING GROUPS

GENERAL VOLUNTEER

BOARD OF DIRECTOR

Each social justice or enviro-themed group sets their own schedule and is free to join

Help with graphics, write for our blog or create a general resource centre: when you can!

Serve as a volunteer member of our board — all decisions made using consensus

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PIRGSPECTIVES JANUARY 2016

MORE IN DEPTH ARTICLES AT OPIRGMCMASTER.BLOGSPOT.CA the EFF called Privacy Badger.

5 Ways You Can Improve Your Digital Privacy and Assert Your Rights Online

3. Uninstall risky software A good way of improving your privacy and security is by uninstalling software that has been known to present security and privacy threats, but is not necessarily intended as malicious. This decreases the chance that you will be compromised.

By Wesley Kerfoot Privacy has become a major issue in society recently, with the rise of government surveillance and bad actors looking to invade privacy for monetary gain, or just because they can. With this in mind, I would like to offer five practical easy things one can do to avoid surveillance and communicate privately.

1. End-to-End Encryption A very easy way to avoid having information about your online habits and communications collected is to make sure you are using something called end-toend encryption. This simply means that the only people who can read a message are the sender and the recipient. On the web, this means using websites that support “SSL”, or in other words the “https” protocol instead of the insecure “http

4. Encrypt your phonecalls and text messages Law enforcement and “security” agencies have been known to target phone calls and text messages extensively. Since it is not possible to rely on the protocol itself for protection, it is good to use thirdparty text messaging and phonecall apps that do end-to-end encryption for you.

5. Protect your cellphone Finally, a fantastic way to protect the security of your data from both surveillance and police searches is by enabling encryption for the entire device. The latest versions of Android offer this ability, as well as iPhones. This protects your phone from any searches, and stops unreasonable, suspicious searches.

2. Avoid online trackers Another way your privacy can be compromised online is by advertising companies looking to watch what sites you visit and what you're doing on them.

The solution is another extension by our friends at

For the full article, which contains more details on the security measures available, visit opirgmcmaster.blogspot.ca.

A LOOK BACK INTO THE ARCHIVES: A CONTINUED TRADITION OPIRG’s Annual Open House was hosted on December 7 this year, raising money for Atzin Community Development program.

The first OPIRG Open House was held just over two decades ago on December 5, 1995! Held in Hamilton Hall Rm. 210, the invitation read: “In the spirit of the holiday season and in appreciation of your support during our first term on campus, we would like to invite you to Mac OPIRG’s First Open House. Please join us for hot apple cider, delicious baked goods, and a chuckle or two.”

OPIRG thanks you for your continued support all these years!

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