Overview
Masha is based in Kyiv, and works for an NGO tracking human rights violations ocurring in the contested Donetsk region of Eastern Ukraine.
She coordinates monitoring missions of volunteers who travel into Donetsk to interview and document violations using their cell phones, and return to share and organize the information. Her responsibility is to plan the missions and logistics, select and send volunteers to the area, and monitor their work and safety.
Masha is an experienced user of digital security tools, including encrypted email and password managers.
However, the volunteer network she works with has high turn-over, and different skill levels and understanding of digital security.
Goals
She needs the ability to track the volunteers’ movement in the area in real time.
A fast, safe tool to synchronize data from volunteer smartphones, so the data does not get confiscated and lost.
Volunteers need an “SOS” button for when there is no time to communicate, but need to send an alert.
Threats
The documentation the volunteers gather is very sensitive to both sides of the conflict; neither side wants these facts.
To preserve the information and keep the volunteers safe, they need to remove the data from the mobile phone as fast as possible, as the devices may be seized at any moment.
The situation in Donetsk is unpredictable, and communications channels may go down without warning.
Strengths
Advanced user who has been trained in and adopted digital security methods. She has different passwords for different services, and updates her software regularly.
She uses file encryption for files on her laptop, and uses gmail with two-factor authentication for her email.
The volunteers have widely different levels of tech skills and need tools which are fast to learn and easy to use.
Questions
What happens to the information if the mobile phone is confiscated?
Can it work if communications are blocked or completely cut off?
How can I safely track the location of the volunteers without revealing that information to anyone else?
