Why We Published the Motherboard Guide to Not Getting Hacked in Spanish

At the end of last year, we published a comprehensive guide on how to defend yourself against hackers and avoid state surveillance.

The guide was published in English, but there are many Americans who don’t speak English. Today, we are publishing The Motherboard Guide to Not Getting Hacked in Spanish for the estimated 41 million native speakers—Americans, soon-to-be citizens, and immigrants—living in the United States. We hope to eventually publish the guide in additional languages for people around the world.

It is important for everyone to know basic digital security tactics, but Latino communities in the United States face a specific, current threat from the US government. In recent months, the President of the United States has villainized Latino people living in the United States and has mobilized the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to go after undocumented immigrants. DHS is surveilling social media looking for undocumented immigrants, and ICE just gained access to a national database that will allow it to track any car in the country in real time. Meanwhile, there is a long history of American law enforcement disproportionately targeting and surveilling people of color and immigrant communities.

It’s more important than ever for Spanish-speaking Americans and Spanish speakers who come from other countries to know how to protect themselves against the online threats, whether that threat comes from criminals or governments. We hope that the Motherboard Guide to Not Getting Hacked will help Spanish speakers in the US and elsewhere improve their digital security.