Protect Your Privacy
No, your phone isn’t ‘listening’ to you — but it’s probably tracking you
08.03.20
Mozilla
True
Firefox
When I found out I was pregnant in October 2018, I had planned to keep the news a secret from family for a little while — but my phone seemed to have other ideas.
Within just a few hours of finding out the news, I was being bombarded with ads for baby gear, baby clothes and diapers on Facebook, Instagram and pretty much any other site I visited — be it my phone or on my computer.
Good thing my family wasn't looking over my shoulder while I was on my phone or my secret would have been ruined.
I'm certainly not alone in feeling like online ads can read your mind.
When I started asking around, it seemed like everyone had their own similar story: Brian Kelleher told me that when he and his wife met, they started getting ads for wedding rings and bridal shops within just a few weeks. Tech blogger Snezhina Piskov told me that she started getting ads for pocket projectors after discussing them in Messenger with her colleagues. Meanwhile Lauren Foley, a writer, told me she started getting ads for Happy Socks after seeing one of their shops when she got off the bus one day.
When online advertising seems to know us this well, it begs the question: are our phones listening to us?
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUxNTYwMS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwOTEwMjk4Nn0.BQh4lujFOvTYhhCSEMFBazanbWOfSK5BT0KMLJzskG0/img.jpg?width=980" id="b06ca" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="dbe3c33fee14b00955e2847973dc5b35" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Mozilla</small></p><p>"There is a common myth that companies like Facebook are using the microphone on your device to passively listen to all your conversations," says Marshall Erwin, Senior Director of Trust and Security at Mozilla and cybersecurity expert who worked for Congress during the Snowden disclosures in 2013. "This isn't the case."<br></p><p>However, your phone — just like your computer — is collecting your personal data.</p><p>It's collecting this data with <a href="https://blog.mozilla.org/firefox/what-is-a-web-tracker/" target="_blank">cookies and other web trackers</a> embedded in the sites you visit, with the data you provide freely when you create social media profiles, use apps or buy things online, with your location data, and with your device ID. </p><p>"Your phone is the most complete surveillance device invented by mankind," says <a href="https://www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty/bruce-schneier" target="_blank">Bruce Schneier</a>, adjunct lecturer in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and renowned security technologist. "It knows where you live, it knows where you work, it knows when you wake up and when you go to sleep. It knows who you sleep with. It knows you better than your spouse."</p><p>"Surveillance is the business model of the internet," he adds.</p><p>For example, Schneier tells me, "the fact that we are talking is recorded somewhere and we actually don't know which of our cell phone companies is selling that data. We don't know which apps on our phone are grabbing that data and using it."</p><p>Pretty much everything we do on our computers or our phones — which, remember, are mini-computers we carry around all day — produces personal data. </p><p>Our data is often then bought, sold, and correlated against other data to create a profile of who we are. That profile is in turn targeted in a variety of ways.</p><p>For example, internet advertisers, Erwin explains, can use it "to anticipate and target ads related to what you are thinking and talking about, without actually having to listen to your conversations."</p><p>For example, a shoe manufacturer could use your data to target you simply because you're in your 30s and you seem interested in sports. But they might also target you because you googled running trails or you recently visited a running hobbyist website. Meanwhile, a politician might use it to target you because you are white and live in a battle-ground state.</p><p>It's easy to use (or misuse) your data.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUxNTYwNi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwMTk3MDk0OX0.wVn-NIzX12g7jlbsoxT-4v539d25YHHhVM2uCcmZ7sA/img.jpg?width=980" id="4c9b6" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0c12b89d3ccd6ac2a88fe15f943a2367" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Mozilla</small></p><p>"Data is what powers a lot of misinformation because it is easier to influence people with malicious messages if those messages are highly targeted towards susceptible groups or populations," explains Erwin.<br></p><p>He continues, "Our data can be misused in discriminatory advertising, where job or housing ads are targeted to only certain racial groups, in violation of people's basic rights."</p><p>Personal data can also be targeted by malicious actors, especially when the apps on our phone aren't secure. For example, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/08/technology/tiktok-security-flaws.html" target="_blank">the app TikTok had vulnerabilities</a> that allowed hackers to manipulate and retrieve user personal information. </p><h2>So what can you do to protect yourself?</h2><p>Well, the bad news is that there's no way to fully protect your data.</p><p>"Your data isn't under your control," says Schneier, "Your email is held by Google, your photos are held by someone else, your files are on some company's hard drive and your financial purchases are held by credit card companies. Your data is not yours anymore."</p><p>"That's the baseline," he continues. "There's largely nothing you can do about it."</p><p>But you can take steps to limit the collection of your data.</p><h3>1. Turn on your privacy controls.</h3><p>"A lot of tech companies provide ways for people to enhance their privacy and to decrease the amount of data collected about them," explains Erwin. "These privacy settings are often off by default, however, and need users to turn them on."</p><h3>2. Use a browser that turns those privacy protections by default.</h3><p>Mozilla protects users' data by turning on privacy features by <a href="https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2019/06/04/when-it-comes-to-privacy-default-settings-matter/" target="_blank">default in the Firefox browser</a>.</p><p>"For example, our Enhanced Tracking Protection feature prevents third parties from tracking you and building a profile of your activity from the websites you visit," says Erwin. "And our DNS over HTTPS (DoH) feature protects that same data from people spying in the middle of the network, encrypting DNS traffic and ensuring it is only disclosed to parties with strong privacy practices."</p><h3>3. Use private browsing.</h3><p>Private browsing — or incognito mode — allow you to browse the web without saving your browsing history. How? They automatically clear cookies and your cache, making it a little harder to track you and target you with ads. </p><p>If you use Firefox, you can also use enhanced tracking protection, which blocks a number of trackers before they're even placed on your device in the first place. </p><h3>4. Avoid public WiFi.</h3><p>Public wifi networks are less secure and it's easier for your data to be hacked.</p><h3>5. Use a VPN.</h3><p>The Mozilla VPN is available on Windows and Android devices and it will help keep you safe online by protecting your data, IP address and location. It also encrypts your activity and communications. </p><h3>6. Adjust your phone settings</h3><p>Watch this video for tips on how to do that:</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="cc04d300d0a52d104d9e7ec0b48aefa0"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7NzHRiOZ3EQ?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Data Detox: Smartphones | Firefox</small>
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NzHRiOZ3EQ" target="_blank">www.youtube.com</a>
</small>
</p>
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Apparently, I'm being paid off by pedophiles.
This payoff is news to me, but it's what Some Random People on the Internet are saying, so it must be true, right? That's how this works? What other reason would I have for sharing factual information about the very real issue of child sex trafficking and calling out false stories of Satanic pedophile rings in which famous evil overlords like Tom Hanks, Oprah, and Hillary Clinton torture and sacrifice children to increase their own power? I simply must be "in on it" somehow.
That seems to be more plausible in some people's minds than the idea that the wild "Pizzagate" child sex ring theory, which has already been thoroughly and repeatedly debunked, could be fabricated by online trolls and perpetuated by politically-motivated players. People believe Pizzagate is real because they've been convinced that the entire media industry is in cahoots and because fringe "sources" with no oversight and no accountability—who insist they're the only ones telling the truth—said so.
<p>Here's the thing about such conspiracy theories. (Yes, I know. Some of you think the term "conspiracy theory" was coined by the CIA—read <a href="https://theconversation.com/theres-a-conspiracy-theory-that-the-cia-invented-the-term-conspiracy-theory-heres-why-132117" target="_blank">this</a> and stay out of my inbox, please.) Some conspiracy theories are goofy, but harmless. The "flat earth" thing, for example, or the idea that we faked the moon landing. Those beliefs are easily disproven and obviously ridiculous, but no one is being hurt by them. We can all laugh, shake our heads, and move on.</p><p>But these outrageous child sex trafficking conspiracy theories like those pushed by QAnon <em>are</em> harmful. Child sex trafficking is a very real, very serious, and very lucrative industry that organizations and governments have been battling for a long time. But QAnon isn't just saying "child sex trafficking is real and important and we need to shed a light on it." They're saying "There is a secret, global cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles who control everything—including politicians, the media, and Hollywood—and who engage in child sex trafficking and ritual sacrifice to harvest adenochrome from children, and Trump is here to save us all from their evil and it's only a matter of time before they all go down."</p><p>Those are two <em>very</em> different things—the issue of child sex trafficking (which is real) and the idea that Hillary Clinton literally sucking the lifeblood out of children in a pizza parlor basement (<a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/03/26/521545788/conspiracy-theorist-alex-jones-apologizes-for-promoting-pizzagate" target="_blank">which doesn't even exist</a>). The fact that we're nearly four years into Trump's presidency and none of these supposed Satanic pedophiles have actually been arrested—despite Trump supposedly knowing all about their dastardly deeds, according to Q—is more than a little weird. But that isn't stopping people from believing this stuff. </p><p>It's also not stopping people from hijacking perfectly good hashtags associated with perfectly good organizations and using them to "raise awareness" about this evil. This is why the #SaveTheChildren hashtag is suddenly showing up everywhere. As Kevin Roose wrote <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/12/technology/qanon-save-the-children-trafficking.html" target="_blank">in the <em>New York Times</em></a>: </p><p><em>"The idea, in a nutshell, is to create a groundswell of concern by flooding social media with posts about human trafficking, joining parenting Facebook groups and glomming on to hashtag campaigns like #SaveTheChildren, which began as a legitimate fund-raising campaign for the Save the Children charity. Then followers can shift the conversation to baseless theories about who they believe is doing the trafficking: a cabal of nefarious elites that includes Tom Hanks, Oprah Winfrey and Pope Francis."</em></p><p>Some unsuspecting people are using this hashtag to talk about child sex trafficking in general, but many posts refer to the evil Hollywood elite and include various QAnon hashtags along with it. And by evil Hollywood elite, they don't mean the legitimate issue of Jeffrey Epstein and investigations into his sleazy, slimy, sick habits. They mean "The Cabal." </p><div id="60f9c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f1e1efb677d02144fec1eadcd05ec127"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1293600699884933123" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">I wrote about how QAnon and Pizzagate believers co-opted #SaveTheChildren to spread discredited conspiracy theories… https://t.co/z6B2duMt1R</div> — Daniel Funke (@Daniel Funke)<a href="https://twitter.com/dpfunke/statuses/1293600699884933123">1597253415.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Some #SaveTheChildren posters are surely unaware that they've been sucked into a conspiracy theory web of disinformation, but those of us who have been following the QAnon phenomenon recognize the virtual fingerprints of a QAnon push. Some of it is obvious, like seeing the #WWG1WGA (a QAnon acronym—"Where we go one, we go all") accompanying many of these posts. But it's also the fact that #SaveTheChildren was soon changed to #SaveOurChildren. Why? Because QAnon followers got wind that Bill and Melinda Gates financially support the actual Save the Children organization that the hashtag originally was used for. And Bill Gates, of course, is one of those "evil global elites" who, according to QAnon, created the coronavirus on purpose in order to push his vaccine agenda and depopulate the planet. <br></p><p>So yeah. The #SaveTheChildren thing is a big effing mess. </p><p>What's the big deal, though? Isn't it just important that we raise awareness about child sex trafficking in general? Of course it is. But unfounded conspiracy theories are not only unhelpful to that cause, but actively harmful. </p><p>The Polaris Project is an organization that provides social services to victims of sex trafficking, works with law enforcement to perform crisis interventions for possible victims of trafficking, and runs the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline. In <a href="https://polarisproject.org/blog/2020/07/how-unproven-trafficking-stories-spread-online-and-why-stopping-them-matters/" target="_blank">a blog post</a>, the organization explained how these unfounded conspiracy theories actually do harm to the child sex trafficking cause. </p><p>"A barrage of conspiracy-related reports from people with no direct knowledge of trafficking situations can overwhelm services meant for victims," the site states, pointing out that the recent <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/07/22/fact-check-wayfair-not-involved-child-sex-trafficking/5460739002/" target="_blank">Wayfair child sex trafficking conspiracy theory </a>flooded their hotline with more calls than they could handle, with zero real leads to real victims, clogging the line so that real victims couldn't get through. They also point out that such theories can lead to loss of privacy or safety for victims or innocent bystanders. (Check out <a href="https://www.inc.com/magazine/201707/burt-helm/how-i-did-it-james-alefantis-comet-ping-pong.html" target="_blank">the threats and violence</a> the owner of Comet Ping Pong pizza parlor in Washington D.C. has had to deal with over "Pizzagate.")</p><p>In addition, and perhaps most importantly, "Conspiracies distract from the more disturbing but simple realities of how sex trafficking actually works, and how we can prevent it." In other words, all this Pizzagate and Wayfair and adenochrome-sucking nonsense actually pulls people <em>away </em>from the reality of child sex trafficking and interferes with the work people could actually be doing to help prevent it. Most children aren't kidnapped out of the blue to be sold and abused, but are trafficked or abused by people they know. (See <a data-linked-post="2646852230" href="https://www.upworthy.com/what-child-trafficking-looks-like" target="_blank">this article</a> written by a woman who was trafficked by her father throughout her childhood.) Polaris encourages people to <a href="https://polarisproject.org/recognizing-human-trafficking/" target="_blank">learn more about </a>what trafficking actual is, what it looks like, and how it generally happens, rather than circulating misinformation. </p><p>The bottom line: While #SaveTheChildren might seem like a righteous thing to share, we have to recognize that there's a boatload of misinformation that is being shared along with it, and such misinformation can do more harm than good.</p><p>What should we do then to actually fight for children who are wrapped up in sex trafficking? Follow legitimate organizations that have been doing this work for years. Pay attention to what they say, as well as what they don't. (You won't find any of them endorsing QAnon conspiracies. If there were truth to them, these are the folks who would be first in line to shed light on it and do something about it.) Here are some to check out:</p><p><a href="https://polarisproject.org/" target="_blank">Polaris Project</a></p><p><a href="https://love146.org/" target="_blank">Love146</a></p><p><a href="https://theexodusroad.com/" target="_blank">The Exodus Road</a></p><p><a href="https://www.ecpatusa.org/" target="_blank">ECPAT-USA</a></p><p><a href="https://www.thorn.org/" target="_blank">Thorn</a></p><p><a href="https://ourrescue.org/" target="_blank">Operation Underground Railroad</a></p><p><a href="https://www.ijm.org" target="_blank">International Justice Mission</a></p><p>You can also learn more about chlid sex trafficking on the United States Department of Justice <a href="https://www.justice.gov/criminal-ceos/child-sex-trafficking" target="_blank">website.</a> </p><p>Child sex trafficking is worthy cause to get behind. Just makes sure you're getting behind the real issue, supporting real organizations with the expertise to help, and avoiding conspiracy theories that only serve to distract from the real work being done to actuallly #SaveTheChidlren. </p>
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Protect Your Privacy
No, your phone isn’t ‘listening’ to you — but it’s probably tracking you
08.03.20
Mozilla
True
Firefox
When I found out I was pregnant in October 2018, I had planned to keep the news a secret from family for a little while — but my phone seemed to have other ideas.
Within just a few hours of finding out the news, I was being bombarded with ads for baby gear, baby clothes and diapers on Facebook, Instagram and pretty much any other site I visited — be it my phone or on my computer.
Good thing my family wasn't looking over my shoulder while I was on my phone or my secret would have been ruined.
I'm certainly not alone in feeling like online ads can read your mind.
When I started asking around, it seemed like everyone had their own similar story: Brian Kelleher told me that when he and his wife met, they started getting ads for wedding rings and bridal shops within just a few weeks. Tech blogger Snezhina Piskov told me that she started getting ads for pocket projectors after discussing them in Messenger with her colleagues. Meanwhile Lauren Foley, a writer, told me she started getting ads for Happy Socks after seeing one of their shops when she got off the bus one day.
When online advertising seems to know us this well, it begs the question: are our phones listening to us?
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUxNTYwMS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwOTEwMjk4Nn0.BQh4lujFOvTYhhCSEMFBazanbWOfSK5BT0KMLJzskG0/img.jpg?width=980" id="b06ca" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="dbe3c33fee14b00955e2847973dc5b35" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Mozilla</small></p><p>"There is a common myth that companies like Facebook are using the microphone on your device to passively listen to all your conversations," says Marshall Erwin, Senior Director of Trust and Security at Mozilla and cybersecurity expert who worked for Congress during the Snowden disclosures in 2013. "This isn't the case."<br></p><p>However, your phone — just like your computer — is collecting your personal data.</p><p>It's collecting this data with <a href="https://blog.mozilla.org/firefox/what-is-a-web-tracker/" target="_blank">cookies and other web trackers</a> embedded in the sites you visit, with the data you provide freely when you create social media profiles, use apps or buy things online, with your location data, and with your device ID. </p><p>"Your phone is the most complete surveillance device invented by mankind," says <a href="https://www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty/bruce-schneier" target="_blank">Bruce Schneier</a>, adjunct lecturer in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and renowned security technologist. "It knows where you live, it knows where you work, it knows when you wake up and when you go to sleep. It knows who you sleep with. It knows you better than your spouse."</p><p>"Surveillance is the business model of the internet," he adds.</p><p>For example, Schneier tells me, "the fact that we are talking is recorded somewhere and we actually don't know which of our cell phone companies is selling that data. We don't know which apps on our phone are grabbing that data and using it."</p><p>Pretty much everything we do on our computers or our phones — which, remember, are mini-computers we carry around all day — produces personal data. </p><p>Our data is often then bought, sold, and correlated against other data to create a profile of who we are. That profile is in turn targeted in a variety of ways.</p><p>For example, internet advertisers, Erwin explains, can use it "to anticipate and target ads related to what you are thinking and talking about, without actually having to listen to your conversations."</p><p>For example, a shoe manufacturer could use your data to target you simply because you're in your 30s and you seem interested in sports. But they might also target you because you googled running trails or you recently visited a running hobbyist website. Meanwhile, a politician might use it to target you because you are white and live in a battle-ground state.</p><p>It's easy to use (or misuse) your data.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUxNTYwNi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwMTk3MDk0OX0.wVn-NIzX12g7jlbsoxT-4v539d25YHHhVM2uCcmZ7sA/img.jpg?width=980" id="4c9b6" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0c12b89d3ccd6ac2a88fe15f943a2367" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Mozilla</small></p><p>"Data is what powers a lot of misinformation because it is easier to influence people with malicious messages if those messages are highly targeted towards susceptible groups or populations," explains Erwin.<br></p><p>He continues, "Our data can be misused in discriminatory advertising, where job or housing ads are targeted to only certain racial groups, in violation of people's basic rights."</p><p>Personal data can also be targeted by malicious actors, especially when the apps on our phone aren't secure. For example, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/08/technology/tiktok-security-flaws.html" target="_blank">the app TikTok had vulnerabilities</a> that allowed hackers to manipulate and retrieve user personal information. </p><h2>So what can you do to protect yourself?</h2><p>Well, the bad news is that there's no way to fully protect your data.</p><p>"Your data isn't under your control," says Schneier, "Your email is held by Google, your photos are held by someone else, your files are on some company's hard drive and your financial purchases are held by credit card companies. Your data is not yours anymore."</p><p>"That's the baseline," he continues. "There's largely nothing you can do about it."</p><p>But you can take steps to limit the collection of your data.</p><h3>1. Turn on your privacy controls.</h3><p>"A lot of tech companies provide ways for people to enhance their privacy and to decrease the amount of data collected about them," explains Erwin. "These privacy settings are often off by default, however, and need users to turn them on."</p><h3>2. Use a browser that turns those privacy protections by default.</h3><p>Mozilla protects users' data by turning on privacy features by <a href="https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2019/06/04/when-it-comes-to-privacy-default-settings-matter/" target="_blank">default in the Firefox browser</a>.</p><p>"For example, our Enhanced Tracking Protection feature prevents third parties from tracking you and building a profile of your activity from the websites you visit," says Erwin. "And our DNS over HTTPS (DoH) feature protects that same data from people spying in the middle of the network, encrypting DNS traffic and ensuring it is only disclosed to parties with strong privacy practices."</p><h3>3. Use private browsing.</h3><p>Private browsing — or incognito mode — allow you to browse the web without saving your browsing history. How? They automatically clear cookies and your cache, making it a little harder to track you and target you with ads. </p><p>If you use Firefox, you can also use enhanced tracking protection, which blocks a number of trackers before they're even placed on your device in the first place. </p><h3>4. Avoid public WiFi.</h3><p>Public wifi networks are less secure and it's easier for your data to be hacked.</p><h3>5. Use a VPN.</h3><p>The Mozilla VPN is available on Windows and Android devices and it will help keep you safe online by protecting your data, IP address and location. It also encrypts your activity and communications. </p><h3>6. Adjust your phone settings</h3><p>Watch this video for tips on how to do that:</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="cc04d300d0a52d104d9e7ec0b48aefa0"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7NzHRiOZ3EQ?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Data Detox: Smartphones | Firefox</small>
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NzHRiOZ3EQ" target="_blank">www.youtube.com</a>
</small>
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popular
Kooky conspiracy theories are detracting from the very real issue of child trafficking
08.04.20
Photo by Mahir Uysal on Unsplash
Two years ago, I got off the phone after an interview and cried my eyes out. I'd just spent an hour talking to Tim Ballard, the founder of Operation Underground Railroad, an organization that helps fight child sex trafficking, and I just couldn't take it.
Ballard told me about how the training to go undercover as a child predator nearly broke him. He told me an eerie story of a trafficker who could totally compartmentalize, showing Ballard photos of kids he had for sale, then switching gears to proudly show him a photo of his own daughter on her bicycle, just as any parent would. He told me about how lucrative child trafficking is—how a child can bring in three or four times as much as a female prostitute—and how Americans are the industry's biggest consumers.
<p>But you know what he <em>didn't </em>mention in our hour-long conversation? Pizza, hot dogs, Hollywood elites, or any of the other child sex trafficking conspiracy theories raging around the internet. Not one of them. Not once. </p><p>You know who else doesn't mention any of those things? The organizations that have spent years and years battling child sex trafficking while most of us blissfully went along in our daily lives, largely oblivious to it. </p><p>No matter our political, religious, or ideological leanings, the unfathomable hideousness of child sex trafficking is something all of us should be able to agree on. But that doesn't make conspiracy theories about pizza parlors and Satanic pedophile rings palatable, or even remotely acceptable. </p><p>Did people learn nothing from the man who believed the Pizzagate conspiracy and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-washingtondc-gunman/man-pleads-guilty-in-washington-pizzeria-shooting-over-fake-news-idUSKBN16V1XC" target="_blank">fired his AR-15 inside of Comet Ping Pong</a> in Washington D.C. because he believed a baseless pedophile ring conspiracy theory involving the pizza parlor? </p><p>There are still people who think that Pizzagate thing is real. (For those who have been blissfully spared from that lunacy, you can read about it <a href="https://time.com/4590255/pizzagate-fake-news-what-to-know/" target="_blank">here.</a>) But that's not even the kookiest thing I've seen lately. There's a veritable laundry list of child sex trafficking posts going around, including:</p><p>- Oprah, Tom Hanks, Ellen Degeneres and other "Hollywood elites" have actually been arrested, and the pandemic is all a distraction to cover up the crackdown on these celebrities. (Fact check <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-tom-hanks-ankle-monitor/fact-check-tom-hanks-is-not-wearing-an-ankle-monitor-post-stems-from-conspiracy-claims-idUSKCN24T2AZ" target="_blank">here.</a> Oh and another one <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/07/30/fact-check-teigen-degeneres-oprah-not-epstein-flight-logs/5494709002/" target="_blank">here.</a>) </p><p>- Model and wife of John Legend, Chrissy Teigen, is a pedophile because she's tweeted a whole bunch about pizza and because she had a sardonic sense of humor about the sexualization of little kids on the show Toddlers & Tiaras back in 2013. (Fact check <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/01/what-happened-with-chrissy-teigen-on-twitter-an-explainer.html" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/07/30/fact-check-teigen-degeneres-oprah-not-epstein-flight-logs/5494709002/" target="_blank">here.</a>) </p><p>- Wayfair—yes, the home goods products store—has <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/07/22/fact-check-wayfair-not-involved-child-sex-trafficking/5460739002/" target="_blank">coded listings for missing children</a> being sold at exorbitant prices in a child sex trafficking scheme. (No, they don't. Fact check <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/07/22/fact-check-wayfair-not-involved-child-sex-trafficking/5460739002/" target="_blank">here.</a>)</p><p>- Having children wear masks will make it easier for kids to be trafficked because no one can see the expression on the kids' faces or identify them. (As if child traffickers weren't already successfully trafficking kids without masks. Fact check <a href="https://www.kimt.com/content/news/COVID-19-increases-concerns-over-masked-child-trafficking-suspects-571971611.html" target="_blank">here.</a>)</p><p>- There's a concerted effort to make "age fluidity" a thing, and to make pedophilia an accepted sexual orientation. (There is one very small group called NAMBLA, which has been trying to abolish consent laws since the 1970s, but claims that there's some kind of "movement" to normalize pedophilia as a legitimate sexual orientation is actually an effort to harm the LBGTQ+ community. Fact check <a href="https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/pedophiles-age-fluid/?fbclid=IwAR3DdW3MKnrvWzVr4y9V8KY_LEJn-JkTsUzC81DzeAah-HZZyHSMiLJ7B_o" target="_blank">here.</a>) </p><p>- Obama and Clinton are satanic leaders of a global child-sex-trafficking cabal—which includes most Democrats and Hollywood, apparently—who feast on children's adrenal glands in order to increase their power. (Fact check <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2017/12/qanon-4chan-the-storm-conspiracy-explained.html" target="_blank">here,</a> although if you seriously need a fact check for this you are already too far gone, my friend. On a related note, <a href="https://mssv.net/2020/08/02/what-args-can-teach-us-about-qanon/?fbclid=IwAR3Al2UWJWuScsfllbPZS1EZJYSQsQ0ZCHue0YcXNXcgJnsZK6h4eNt-leE" target="_blank">this article </a>about the parallels between QAnon and "alternate reality games" is suuuuper fascinating and explains a lot.) </p><p>- Obama spent $65,000 on a "hot dog" party, which is code for little boys and pedophilia. (You know what? I'm not even going to fact check this, because come on.) </p><p>And that's not even all of them. </p><h2></h2><p>Of course, there are some legitimate questions to be asked about how much involvement certain celebrities and politicians, including Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, had with known pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Having watched a beloved figure like Bill Cosby fall from grace over sexual misconduct, we know what's possible. But none of those Epstein connections are a secret. It's all being reported on in the real news and has been since Epstein started being investigated. (There's also a lot of misinformation about who was involved with Epstein, and to what degree, and in what capacity, and none of these conspiracy theories are helping us get to the truth of the matter.) </p><p>The main problem is this: When you conflate the actual issue of child sex trafficking—which is absolutely real and serious and deserves our attention—with totally off-the-wall, debunked conspiracy theories, it causes people to put their energies in the wrong places. </p><p>The Polaris Project, a national organization that fights human trafficking, had to release a statement asking people to stop calling about Wayfair because it was overwhelming the National Human Trafficking Hotline.</p><p>"While Polaris treats all calls to the Trafficking Hotline seriously, the extreme volume of these contacts has made it more difficult for the Trafficking Hotline to provide support and attention to others who are in need of help," <a href="https://polarisproject.org/press-releases/polaris-statement-on-wayfair-sex-trafficking-claims/" target="_blank">the group said in a July 20 press release</a>. "We strongly encourage everyone to learn more about what human trafficking really looks like in most situations, and about how you can help fight trafficking in your own community."</p><p>What it often looks like is a family member trafficking a child, such as <a data-linked-post="2646852230" href="https://www.upworthy.com/what-child-trafficking-looks-like" target="_blank">Melody Cholish's story</a> she recently shared with us. Sometimes it looks different, and you can find all kinds of stories and information about child trafficking from the many organizations that have worked for years on this issue, including <a href="https://www.savethechildren.org/us/charity-stories/child-trafficking-awareness#children" target="_blank">Save the Children</a>, <a href="https://ourrescue.org/" target="_blank">Operation Underground Railroad</a>, <a href="https://polarisproject.org/" target="_blank">the Polaris Project</a>, <a href="https://love146.org/slavery/common-myths/" target="_blank">Love 146</a>, and <a href="https://www.stopthetraffik.org/" target="_blank">Stop the Traffik.</a> (Please use those sites for "doing research" instead of Twitter or QAnon or YouTube or memes that come through your feed.) </p><p><span></span>The other problem is that the issue of child sex trafficking is suddenly being used to deflect from every other important issue, because "Oh yeah? <em>What about CHILD SEX TRAFFICKING???</em>" is a fairly effective deflection. I mean, who doesn't think that child sex trafficking is the absolute worst of the worst things humans do? Black Lives Matter? <em>What about CHILD SEX TRAFFICKING?</em> Horrible pandemic situation due to inept leadership? <em>What about CHILD SEX TRAFFICKING? </em></p><p>I mean, we can care about more than one thing at a time. The question is, why did all these conspiracy theorists not care this much about child sex trafficking until they thought it was "evil liberal elites" doing it? Why was no one calling child sex trafficking a "pandemic" until we were in the middle of an uncontrolled <em>literal </em>pandemic? Why were there no widespread protests against child sex trafficking until there were widespread protests for Black Lives Matter? <br></p><p>As I mentioned, Tim Ballard didn't say a single thing about Hollywood elites or pizza parlor basements or adrenal-sucking rituals or anything of the sort in our hour-long conversation about child sex trafficking. And he's an expert on this topic. He's also a conservative Trump supporter. He's not peddling any of these conspiracies, and neither are any of the legitimate organizations that are working to end child trafficking. Not one. </p><p>Either every major organization working to end child sex trafficking is a part of The Big Evil Global Elite Pedo Ring Plot or people who spend too much time on social media are being taken by baseless, politically-driven nonsense that's probably being pumped out of some guy's basement. My money is on the latter. </p><p>Stick with the organizations that have been doing this work for decades. Get your information from them. Stop sharing crazy internet conspiracies simply because you want people to know you care about children, or because it justifies your hatred of people you see as your enemies. We can—and must—unite to fight child sex trafficking without resorting to insane, debunked rumors that muddy the waters and distract from the real problem. </p>
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Future Edge
How this nonprofit is helping hundreds of NYC restaurants adjust during the pandemic
08.13.20
Courtesy of Chef El-Amin
True
When non-essential businesses in NYC were ordered to close in March, restaurants across the five boroughs were tasked to pivot fast or risk shuttering their doors for good.
The impact on the city's once vibrant restaurant scene was immediate and devastating. A national survey found that 250,000 people were laid off within 22 days and almost $2 billion in revenue was lost. And soon, numerous restaurant closures became permanent as the pandemic raged on and businesses were unable to keep up with rent and utility payments.
Hot Bread Kitchen, a New York City-based nonprofit and incubator that has assisted more than 275 local businesses in the food industry, knew they needed to support their affiliated restaurants in a new light to navigate the financial complexities of shifting business models and applying for loans.
According to Hot Bread Kitchen's CEO Shaolee Sen, shortly after the shutdown began, a third of restaurant workers that they support had been laid off and another third were furloughed.
<p>While Hot Bread Kitchen seeks to help minority-owned restaurants thrive and sustain a diverse workforce, Sen has seen the small business owners that Hot Bread Kitchen represents <u><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/06/18/us/coronavirus-black-owned-small-business.html" target="_blank">hit unequally hard</a></u> compared to white small business owners during the pandemic.</p><p>"The majority of people who have been furloughed or laid off from their jobs are people of color," Sen said. "Our crisis response included direct cash assistance and wraparound support for food industry employees and entrepreneurs who have been disproportionately impacted by the economic effects of this crisis."</p><p>This support included emergency relief and the launch of a hotline to help Hot Bread Kitchen's alumni navigate hardship brought on by the pandemic, such as navigating unemployment, benefits, childcare, food resources and anxiety. After seeing overwhelming demand, Hot Bread Kitchen opened up the hotline to all food workers.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzU0MTkwNy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1ODA1NTY1N30.3LxF7IPnCmKY1_88Z03w1gYF1yoh3WBLq_dFej84D1s/img.jpg?width=980" id="90bbe" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8765312793d9be68d9b0770ca37157fa" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Courtesy of Hot Bread Kitchen</small></p><p>Hot Bread Kitchen was able to assist the small businesses it supports through the help of numerous partners and donors, including Capital One, who has provided grants to the nonprofit since 2012 and also helped Hot Bread Kitchen secure a loan to maintain employing its staff through the Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Program as a small business banking customer.<br></p><p>"Capital One is proud to partner with Hot Bread Kitchen and share in its commitment to empowering women and businesses as they navigate the complex financial challenges brought on by the pandemic," says Theresa Bedeau, a vice president of Community Impact & Investment at Capital One who also serves on Hot Bread Kitchen's advisory board.</p><p>One of the hundreds of businesses that Hot Bread Kitchen helped was <u><a href="http://www.chefelamin.com/" target="_blank">Chef El-Amin</a></u>, a New Rochelle, New York-based healthy soul foods restaurant turned catering business that originally opened in 1985.</p><p>This wasn't the first time that founder and chef Yusef El-Amin had pivoted his business to address the needs of his community. In 2000, he became concerned by his local community's struggle with diabetes and obesity, so he transformed his menu of classic soul food items into healthier gluten-free or vegan options without compromising taste.</p><p>With dining-in no longer a safe option, El-Amin sought the help of Hot Bread Kitchen to pivot his restaurant's business model once again.</p><p>"Most people are staying in and feeding their families where they live, so why not bring our recipes right into their homes?" says Rakhya El-Amin, Chef Yusef's daughter and current CEO and Managing Director of Chef El-Amin.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzU0MTkwOC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwNDc1MzMwNH0.L1NkUXH6_RVvzIsYJ3_Up4_6MRiU6WJGzRcSBE8ITPg/img.jpg?width=980" id="94feb" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b721b7c2c556ea62b8a0a44f8bf60440" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Courtesy of Chef El-Amin</small></p><p>The restaurant quickly pivoted and is now bringing its fish fry seasoning into home kitchens from Florida to California.</p><p>"We're perfecting our seasonings and our sauces so we can ship them to anyone in the United States," Yusef said.</p><p>Hot Bread Kitchen has been an instrumental resource to Chef El-Amin during this transition.</p><p><span></span>According to Rakhya, they've helped Chef El-Amin zero in on creating the right product for its target market and expanding its offering of Halal, a traditionally underserved market in the US.<br></p><p>Hot Bread Kitchen has also helped them streamline the consumer packaged goods processing for Chef El-Amin products by arranging for state and local inspections, as well helping scale the business from a local favorite to a national powerhouse.</p><p>While Rakhya is proud to partner with Hot Bread Kitchen and encourage innovation among Black and Brown business leaders in her community, her focus is clear.</p><p>"I don't want people to buy from us just because we're an African American-owned business, I want people to buy from us and support our cause because it's the best product line out there," Rakhya said. "The whole team at Hot Bread Kitchen has been so supportive and we're really thankful to be aligned with such a wonderful organization."</p>
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