humanID Partners with report it® to Enhance Crowdsourcing Anonymity
February 2022 Newsletter
Greetings fellow humans,
The humanID team is more situated than ever to protect our right to privacy. We are creating our very own foundation and look forward to sharing more updates soon. We’re proud to announce our newest integration with report it®, a nationwide whistleblowing and crowdsourcing website now offering humanID. Read about this partnership and more below.
Summary (TLDR):
humanID partners with report it® (reportit.com) New podcast with our Co-Founder Check out our new blog posts Ad-targeting privacy bill introduced in US Congress Disinformation surrounding the war in Ukraine Meta grapples with EU data laws Meet Evan – Humans of humanID You can help us!
report it® Partnership
As of January 2022, humanID has been integrated into reportit.com’s services.
report it® (reportit.com), one of America’s leading whistleblowing services, will now have humanID’s anonymous single sign-on integrated into the report it® website, allowing for informers to contact recipients securely and anonymously. report it® is an anonymous reporting tool, offered through smartphone app, that operates as a safety and security measure for businesses, communities, schools and large events. Using the report it® app, users are able to make sensitive reports, provide information and flag incidents to communities. This partnership is humanID’s latest collaboration, and will provide humanID anonymity to organizations such as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) – a Department of Justice agency – Time Square Alliance, Securitas Security Services and ADP.
Can you think of apps and websites that would benefit from humanID’s privacy and anti-spam protection? Your referral could help their users and stop a major data leak. Let us know!
Fundraising Video AND Interview with Bastian are Live!
Real Voices & True Privacy: a Vision for a Human Internet, is our new fundraising video featuring humanID’s founders Bastian, Namik, and Shuyao discussing the dangers of online disinformation and the importance of building safer online communities.
Also check out this conversation between Bastian Purrer, humanID co-founder, and David Tran, host of Fuse, a YouTube channel, and the co-founder of XFUSION.IO: Uniting anonymity and accountability with Bastian Purrer of humanID.
Let’s Get Technical…
Our Technical Content team has been hard at work releasing articles on our blog:
Putin’s Disinformation Campaign in the War in Ukraine
The Russian government has amassed over 100,000 troops at its border with Ukraine, and positioned heavy weaponry on Ukraine’s border with Belarus, amidst it’s ongoing war and occupation in Eastern Ukraine & Crimea. As diplomatic talks continue between Western powers and Russia, disinformation plays a major role in stoking tensions. Though Russia has been steadily supplying disinformation about Ukraine since its first invasion in 2014, there has been a resurgence of propaganda as tensions rise in the region. Russia is attempting to paint itself as a victim of U.S and NATO aggression, and to paint Western democracies as being on the verge of collapse. Propaganda on social media accuses “Ukraine of plotting a genocide against ethnic Russians”. Putin even accused the U.S of luring Russia into a war.
The U.S Department of State released a Fact vs. Fiction: Russian Disinformation on Ukraine sheet addressing the coordinated disinformation campaign. Russia is seeking to control the narrative to support the violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and a potential overthrow of a democratically elected government. Bot networks overwhelm popular social media platforms and amplify pro-Russian rhetoric. The ongoing war both in cyberspace and reality alarms us at humanID and underscores the importance of our mission: to eliminate fake accounts and promote democratic dialogue online. We hope to curb the effectiveness of coordinated disinformation campaigns—and we will continue to follow this one closely.
Meta Grapples with EU Data Laws
After the issuing of their latest report on the 3rd of February, Meta have spoken out against the EU’s data protection laws and warned that they may have to shut down in the EU if the current data framework is maintained. Meta have emphasized the reliance their business has on transferring data between the US and EU, positioning their complaints as ‘identifying a business risk’ for the tech sector. As it stands, EU rules against transferring data outside its territories have been affirmed by their highest court, the European Court of Justice, and have invalidated previous agreements between the US and EU to allow for EU citizen data transfer.
Meta have responded to news of their reports with a reaffirmation of business with the EU as well as an explanation of the perceived ongoing issue. This story highlights the increasing legislative and executive action being taken against broad misuse of social media user data in the EU, and Meta’s response demonstrates the industry’s current attempts to create some kind of agreement to bypass these new laws.
Human of humanID – Evan Leong
We are disheartened to say that Evan has come to the end of his internship on the Story Team at humanID. An Information Technology and Informatics major finishing out his junior year at Rutgers University, it is without question that Evan will go on to make a positive impact regardless of what he decides to do next. Our battle against big tech and bot networks continues, but Evan, and his thoughtful voice, will be greatly missed.
How has your humanID internship changed your perspective on internet privacy and rights?
I joined humanID because I learned about online misinformation and privacy concerns in some of my coursework, and I wanted to support change. When I signed up for humanID, I immediately thought of American politics and the spread of misinformation, particularly on Twitter. But it was truly eye-opening to learn just how global these issues are internationally.
For my internship, I coordinated the fundraising video project. As I gathered sources to reference in the video, I learned that the Internet was key in orchestrating peaceful revolutions, such as the Arab Spring in the early 2010’s. But more recently, it’s been a massive contributor to misinformation due to the influx of bots and trolls on social media networks – not only in the U.S., but in the U.K., the Philippines, and all around the world.
It’s so important to be aware of where you get your information, especially on social networks. And I truly believe in humanID’s mission to create a safe online environment where everyone is held accountable.
What are your plans for the future? What lessons from your humanID internship will you take with you?
Working with the Story team at humanID was a great experience. My internship allowed me to support a cause I’m passionate about, and I worked with so many incredible people who also feel strongly about creating a free online community worldwide. I don’t know exactly what I plan to pursue in the future, but my humanID internship allowed me to participate in so many areas, including grant writing, document revision, and video editing. And of course, I led a team of talented designers to create a fundraising video, which is something I’ll always be proud of. On top of that, the soft skills I’ve developed here – leadership, communication, and organization – will be invaluable going forward. Interning at humanID was truly a unique experience, and I’m so grateful I had this opportunity.
Share Your Human Voice! The Internet Needs You!
Every human deserves exactly one protected, equal voice. It is what you say that matters, not who you are.
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Help us take back control of the internet and REMEMBER: never stop sharing your real human voice. We can do this, but only if we stand together, speak up, and demand change.
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