GCORE

Finally the world is opening up for Fieldwork!

GCORE closed up shop for over 2+ years as the researchers it supports around the world got locked down thanks to the Covid-19 global pandemic.

Difficult days for many people, however the world has opened up again, and universities are gearing up for global mobility and field research in a major way again... This means GCORE is back on duty providing a social network, information and it's world-leading field researcher safety and security training and advisory services.

Get ready to spread your wings again and engage.

SIM CARD ALERT

Field researchers often purchase local SIM cards for use once 'in country' to avoid paying global roaming fees in their home country and to access cheaper data and local call access making it cheaper for their research participants to call them.

Adaptive Mobile recently published a list of countries where mobile operators ship SIM cards vulnerable to Simjacker attacks, so if you are doing fieldwork in Central or South America's in particular you should learn more about this potential vulnerability.

These are the 29 countries vulnerable to Simjacker attacks | ZDNet Adaptive Mobile publishes the list of countries where mobile operators ship SIM cards vulnerable to Simjacker attacks.

HAITI CORRUPTION & SECURITY UPDATE

GCORE members in Haiti or planning to travel to Haiti should read this latest update.

traveloracle.healix.com

WORLD HEALTH REPORT

Health issues are among the top risks fieldworkers must manage when deploying overseas.

The latest world health update for May is available below.

info.healix.com

JAN-MAR 2019 - GLOBAL COUNTER-TERRORISM UPDATE:

Please view via link below.

traveloracle.healix.com

SRI LANKA Update

For those GCORE members in Sri Lanka or heading that way, please find via the link below a recent security update.

traveloracle.healix.com

MOBILES & CYBER SECURITY IN THE FIELD

How to Stop Facebook From Tracking Your Location In the Background!

The best way to ensure your cyber and therefore your physical security is to uninstall Facebook from your mobile entirely. However, if you're an addict and need to keep your regular fix, here's some considerations.

Every app installed on your smartphone with permission to access location service "can" continually collect your real-time location secretly, even in the background when you do not use them.

Do you know? — Installing the Facebook app on your Android and iOS smartphones automatically gives Facebook rightful consent to collect the history of your precise location.

If you are not aware, there is a setting called "Location History" in your Facebook app that comes enabled by default, allowing the company to track your every movement even when you are not using the social media app.

So, every time you turn ON location service/GPS setting on your smartphone, let's say for using Uber app or Google Maps, Facebook starts tracking your location.

Users can manually turn Facebook's Location History option OFF from the app settings to completely prevent Facebook from collecting your location data, even when the app is in use.

However, unfortunately, disabling Location History would also break some Facebook features that rely on location data like checking into a nearby location, tagging locations in an uploaded photo or while using Nearby Friends, a feature that lets friends share their locations with each other.

When talking about iOS, Apple offers its users more control over such situations at device level where users don't want to completely stop an app from using location, allowing them to choose if an app can also access location data in the background or not.

However, people using Facebook on Android have an all-or-nothing option when it comes to location sharing, which means either they have to grant Facebook full access to their location data or completely prevent the social network from seeing your location at all, without any option for accessing your location data only when the app is open.

How to Stop Facebook From Tracking You When Not in Use

Facebook has finally changed this behavior by introducing a new privacy setting to its Android app, giving users more explicit, granular control over background collection of their location data.

Here's how you can prevent Facebook from tracking your location when the app is not in use:

Open the Facebook app on your Android smartphone
Go to the Settings menu on the top right corner (looks like this ☰)
Tap on Settings & Privacy
Choose Privacy Shortcuts
Select Manage your location settings
Now, toggle "Background Location" to OFF

If you enable this setting, two things will happen—"you would share your location when you weren't using the app, and you would allow Facebook to store a history of your precise locations."

"We're not making any changes to the choices you've previously made nor are we collecting any new information as a result of this update," Facebook's post reads.

"For people who previously chose to turn their Location History setting 'on,' the new background location setting is 'on.' For people who had turned Location History 'off' – or never turned it on in the first place – the new background location setting is 'off.'"

With this update, Facebook gives users a dedicated way to choose whether or not to share their location when they are not using the social media app.

iOS users need not worry about such features, as Apple already offers iPhone users an option to block an app from using their location in the background when the app is not open.

If you are an iPhone user and have not already stop Facebook—or any other app—from tracking your location in the background, you can follow these simple steps:

Go to Settings
Select Privacy
Choose "Location Services"
If you want to completely stop all apps from tracking you, turn Location Services off. If you want to limit this setting depending on every app, tap each app and choose "Never" or "While Using."

Make sure apps that don't require your location, like most games, photo sharing apps and editors, are set to "Never."

GLOBAL HEALTH UPDATE

Health issues are usually a bigger risk than security issues most of the time you deploy, so it's worth staying up to date with major public health trends in your areas of interest.

Please read the global health update below for the latest information on:

*Measles
*Sleeping Sickness
*Zika;and
*Salmonella

https://healix.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/World-Health-Report-Mar-2019.pdf

GLOBAL SECURITY UPDATES

On 22 March 2019 Healix International released its latest security assessment for a number of counties experiencing changes in security.

If you are a GCORE alumni about to travel overseas for fieldwork, or if you are a current student completing your Assessment 2 these security updates will supplement other open source intelligence from government travel sites to sharpen your own risk management plans.

Healix Weekly Security Forecast

JAMES COOK UNIVERSITY: FIELD RESEARCHER TRAINING

It is a great honour to announce that GCORE has been invited to begin delivering its Fieldwork in Complex & Hostile Places intensive subject to Masters and PhD students at James Cook University (JCU).

If you have friends or family based in Cairns or Townsville currently enrolled at JCU, or if they work overseas and would benefit from specialised safety and security training then let them know that the course is running 13-17 May 2019.

GCORE Founder, Scott Flower was appointed as an Honorary Associate Professor at JCU to provide leadership and boost field training and support to JCU staff and students. Scott will ensure the delivery of the inaugural JCU course that has been running for 6 years since originally starting at the University of Melbourne.

All students enrolling in this course have the opportunity to earn a number of 'Certificates of Training' from the United Nations Department of Safety and Security in 'Active Shooter Response,' Information Security, and Field Safety and Security.

For more information see:

https://www.jcu.edu.au/graduate-research-school/workshops-training-and-events/professional-development-program/rd7003-professional-development-workshops/fieldwork-in-complex-and-hostile-places

Fieldwork in Complex and Hostile Places

WSU STUDENTS 'IN THE FIELD'

GCORE would like to thank Western Sydney University (WSU) for creating the opportunity for WSU masters and PhD students to undertake GCORE's Fieldwork in Complex and Hostile Places (FCHP) subject each semester moving forward.

Between 18-24 February 2019, the inaugural WSU FCHP class distinguished themselves by the way they threw themselves into their learning.

Some pics below of the 'Live Fire' weapons demonstration, Virtual Reality and tactical medical training module provide a snapshot of the learners in action.

GCORE looks forward to the next WSU class in September!

Hi Fieldwork Peeps,

Information about your physical movements when you are deployed in the field can have a massive impact on the safety and security of yourself and your research participants. If you have taken GCORE's Fieldwork in Complex and Hostile Places subject you will have a good understanding of these risks.

This recent article from the New York Times (NYT) should reinforce the need to consider the practical vulnerabilities of deploying to do fieldwork with a smartphone loaded with comprising applications.

The main message from this story is that you must only deploy after taking a hard look at what applications are on your smartphone, and ensure that you take a mobile with a minimal number of essential apps in order to not compromise yourself or your contacts whom you have an ethical obligation to protect.

At the same time it is essential for safety reasons to use a tracking and communications app, and this is where GCORE's Field Connect app should have a special place in your defensive strategy. Field Connect is built in the MS Azure Cloud and has the highest levels of encryption and security of any tracking and communication app, so that only the people who have a need to know can see where you are or instantly receive emergency alerts from you so they can render you support.

If you need a hand with reviewing your mobile security or support setting yourself up with Field Connect please email [email protected].

Stay safe and ethical out there!

Your Apps Know Where You Were Last Night, and They’re Not Keeping It Secret Dozens of companies use smartphone locations to help advertisers and even hedge funds. They say it’s anonymous, but the data shows how personal it is.