ENC Analysis | A Digital Duty of Care: Protecting the Data of Afghan Girls in Online Education
The European Neighbourhood Council (ENC) has released its new analysis titled “A Digital Duty of Care: Protecting the Data of Afghan Girls in Online Education.”
The paper is co-authored by Nematullah Akbari, MA student in Politics and Security (Central Asia) at the OSCE Academy in Bishkek, and Dr. Rashid Gabdulhakov, ENC Academic Council Member and Assistant Professor at the University of Groningen, Netherlands.
The analysis examines the digital security challenges facing Afghan girls and women who rely on online education following the Taliban’s restrictions on access to secondary and higher education. It highlights how online learning, while providing essential educational opportunities, can also expose students, teachers, and their families to surveillance and potential retaliation through personal data collection and digital records.
The paper argues that the European Union should make data protection an integral part of its support for education in Afghanistan. It recommends introducing minimum digital safeguarding standards into EU-funded education programmes, providing technical and financial assistance to education providers, and strengthening engagement with digital platforms to protect vulnerable learners.
The full paper is available here
