Secure by Design: Privacy-First Digital Safety for Young Users

This one-day hackathon challenges participants to rethink how digital safety for children and young users can be built directly into the architecture of digital platforms. Instead of relying on intrusive monitoring, content surveillance, or excessive data collection, teams are encouraged to design privacy-preserving, security-first systems where safety is an integral part of the platform by default.

Problem Statement

Digital platforms increasingly serve younger generations of users, yet many existing safety mechanisms depend on centralized tracking, invasive monitoring, or opaque data practices that undermine privacy and user trust. The challenge is to design digital systems where safety, security, and responsible data practices are embedded by design, not added as afterthoughts. Participants are tasked with prototyping architectural approaches that reduce risk for young users while preserving usability, autonomy, and privacy. This includes exploring privacy-aware parental guidance mechanisms, secure and consent-based reporting flows, decentralized or federated safety components, and techniques to minimize metadata exposure while still enabling effective safety features.

Who Can Apply

The hackathon is open to developers, computer science students, open source contributors, security and privacy enthusiasts, and UX designers interested in building safe digital systems. Participants must join as part of a team of at least two people (solo participation is not accepted). Teams may be formed in advance or at the start of the event, and all team members must be registered hackathon participants. Participants should be comfortable building prototypes within a one-day format.

How to Join

• Step 1 (Before the event): Register to secure your spot – Hackathon passes are limited; register early before they run out.
• Step 2 (Before the event): Form your idea & team – Define your solution and form a team (minimum 2 participants per team).
• Step 3 (10 March, 9:30): Welcome & mentor check-in – Join the welcome session, meet mentors, and get early feedback.
• Step 4 (10 March, 10:00): Build & iterate on-site – Work with your team and mentors throughout the day; food, and drinks provided.
• Step 5 (10 March, 16:00): Submit & present – Present outcomes via a 3-minute demo video and live Q&A.
• Step 6 (10 March, 17:30): Awards ceremony – Celebrate all teams and announce the winners.

Scope and Rules

This hackathon focuses on engineering and system design challenges related to secure-by-design digital safety. It is not intended as a policy or regulatory debate.

All projects must:

• Address the hackathon theme and problem statement
• Emphasize security and privacy by design
• Demonstrate practical, deployable system design
• Be compatible with open source principles
• Have at least 2 participants
• Include a video presentation no longer than 3 minutes

Note: Submissions must be primarily original work created during the hackathon and must not have been submitted to any other hackathon or competition.

Judging Criteria

Projects will be evaluated by ExpressVPN and FOSSASIA representatives.
Awards will be announced at the FOSSASIA Summit closing session.

• Relevance to the challenge – How well the project addresses the hackathon theme and problem statement
• Security & privacy by design – How effectively safety, privacy, and responsible data practices are embedded into the system architecture
• Technical quality – Soundness of the architecture, implementation quality, and appropriate use of technology
• Practicality & deployability – Feasibility of the solution in real-world environments
• Impact & usefulness – Potential positive impact for young users and broader digital safety
• User experience – Clarity, usability, and appropriateness of the user experience for the target audience
• Open source readiness – Code quality, documentation, and suitability for open source collaboration
• Presentation & clarity – Clear explanation of the problem, solution, and design decisions

Submission Requirements

Participants must submit the following deliverables in person by 16:00 on 10 March:

• A functional prototype or demo setup
• A project with a public code repository under an OSI-approved license
• A README.md including setup instructions, project description, and a reference to the hackathon
• A video presentation (maximum 3 minutes) explaining the technical design and security/privacy considerations . ⚠️ Teams submitting videos longer than 3 minutes will be disqualified.

🎁 Prizes & Recognition

🏅 All Participating Teams

Teams that complete and submit a working prototype will receive:

• 🎟️ ExpressVPN credits
• 👕 Exclusive T-shirt
• 📜 Certificate of participation

🏆 Winner Prizes

• 🥇 Hackathon Grand Prize – THB 29,999 (~1,000 USD)
• 🥈 Best Privacy by Design – THB 15,555 (~500 USD)
• 🥉 Best Open Source Hack – THB 8,888 (~290 USD)

Winning teams will present at the FOSSASIA Summit closing session.