Morphed images aftermath:15-point CCPCR advisory for cyber security: Privacy settings, cyberbullying in focus

The move comes in the backdrop of the incident that happened last week where a student of a reputed school was apprehended for creating morphed pictures of girls from the school using artificial intelligence (AI)

Chandigarh Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (CCPCR) has drafted a 15-point advisory on cyber security for the schools and shared it with UT advisor and education department.

Schools have also been asked to conduct cyber awareness programmes with the cyber cell of the Chandigarh Police, which has come as a mandate from CCPCR for all schools of the city, both private and government. (Shutterstock)

The move comes in the backdrop of the incident that happened last week where a student of a reputed school was apprehended for creating morphed pictures of girls from the school using artificial intelligence (AI).

As per the advisory shared by CCPCR chairperson Shipra Bansal with the UT adviser, schools have been asked to discuss privacy settings with the students. Students should be asked to adjust privacy settings of their social media profiles to limit the accessibility of their personal information to the public.

As per the advisory, students have been asked to create unique and strong passwords for their online accounts. They have further been advised not to share their passwords with anyone. They should also not share information like their name, address, phone number or school details with strangers.

Schools should instruct the students engaged in online gaming not to share their personal information or talk to strangers. Students also need to limit their screen time.

Parents should be actively involved in their children’s online activities should be aware of the platforms their children are using, and set rules at home to ensure safe internet usage.

Students should be advised not to accept friend or message requests from strangers online and should think before sharing their own photos.

Content filtering and monitoring software should be installed on school computers to ensure blockage of inappropriate content.

Students should also be taught about cyberbullying and how to identify and report it.

Students should be encouraged to stand up against online harassment and they should have respect and empathy for others. Students should be taught about the legal consequences of cyberbullying, harassment and other offences to deter them from this.

Students should be taught about practices like phishing so they can identify suspicious emails and they should be asked not to download any attachments or click on any links from unknown senders.

Schools have also been asked to conduct cyber awareness programmes with the cyber cell of the Chandigarh Police, which has come as a mandate from CCPCR for all schools of the city, both private and government.

A meeting regarding the CCPCR’s functioning was also held on Tuesday with the home secretary.

The education department will issue this advisory to schools.