Martynka’s Refugee Support on Third-party Platforms Risks Data Security

Martynka is a digital platform created in March 2022 by Nastya Podorozhnya, a Ukrainian living in Poland at the time, to provide legal aid, geolocation tracking and psychosocial support to Ukrainian refugee women. Built as a chatbot on Telegram, the platform offers services in Ukrainian, Russian, Polish and English and is accessible to women both in Ukraine and in Poland. However, Martynka faces several governance challenges, including significant concerns about data privacy and security due to its reliance on Telegram, a third-party application with a controversial reputation for data handling. Additionally, digital inequality presents a challenge, in particular within conflict zones, where access to technology and digital literacy are limited.

As Martynka continues to serve women refugees, it faces increasing pressure to balance real-time security needs, such as geolocation tracking, with data privacy concerns. These governance challenges, along with operational hurdles such as financial sustainability, highlight the platform’s dependence on partnerships with state and non-state actors to address gaps in protection and support.