WIQUAYA

Presentation of our project

As a queer/lgbti+ public, we encounter problems of our own and aggressions against us are common. It is therefore often necessary to protect ourselves (from our family, from queerphobic/lgbti-phobic people, from cyber harassment, etc.).

Wiquaya – which means "to protect oneself" in arabic – is a project that stems from the field.

Its goal ?

Connect queer/lgbti+ people seeking protection for their privacy to existing solutions.

The solution for a queer / lgbti+ public is not to entirely leave GAFAM Web giants : Google, Amazon, Facebook (Meta), Apple, Microsoft, to stay in niche zones of the web. Indeed, we have a vital need to access some proprietary social networks.

We need visibility, we need to break out of the isolation we are in – outside the web – and to have access to a large number of data whether it is medical, social or technical.

Protecting oneself takes multiple meanings. To protect oneself after an aggression, to protect oneself as a preventive measure.

Here lies the purpose of Wiquaya.

Methodology

Research and review, Wiquaya draws on the experiences of queer / lgbti + people.

Multiple interviews allowed us for the making of a brief inventory of Internet use by queer/lgbti+ people. Out of which concrete protection tools and tricks emerge:

• a directory
• a tools list (browser addon, tutorials, etc.)
• a glossary
• summary infographics

Obstacles

The solutions put forward by Wiquaya are a response to potential or undergone agressions against the queer/lgbti + community. These solutions are not foolproof and can be insufficient.

How can a queer/lgbti + person take control of their digital security when they are facing agressions on all fronts? Despite the implemented solution put in place as a preventive measure, it is never our responsibility and our fault when we are subjected to cyber attacks, because of what we are defending or who we are.

Also, this advice is not of a legal or professional nature and does not involve the institutions.
Our mailbox is open for any suggestions for improvments.