How Does ActWorthy Use Your Data?
To use social media for social change, we have to build trust
Social media doesn’t work without data. The recommendation algorithms that determine which posts show up at the top are tailored to your preferences and to your profile. These algorithms require a lot of data about you and about other users in order to make accurate predictions about the types of content you would like to see.
At ActWorthy, we are a team of data scientists who are very concerned about your privacy. We are aware of the potential for this platform to be misused to target people based on their political actions. Even before the recent scandals involving Facebook came to light, we knew that building trust with our users was (and will always be) incredibly important on our platform. Here’s how we will protect your data and earn your trust.
It All Starts With Temperance
Other social media platforms collect as much of your data as they possibly can. At ActWorthy, we think that’s unnecessary and dangerous. We will only collect as much data as we need to accomplish our goals: to inspire and empower you to take action in your community. To accomplish these goals, we will present actions to you that you want to take. Of course, we will want to keep you engaged in your community (and on our platform) as time goes on. To do that, we only collect the following information:
- Your general location (city, state)
- Your email address and phone number (for digests and notifications)
- The issues you care about (and choose to reveal to us)
That’s it. Only collecting the information we need makes us a much less valuable target for hackers. On ActWorthy, your data is safe.
Next Step: A Strong Business Model
We are supported by monthly subscriptions from the activists, organizations, and campaigns that create actions on our site. They are paying us to increase the number of people who take action and develop deeper relationships with them. We do not sell your personal data. We do not sell your email address. Our only goal is to generate collective action.
Over time, we may ask you for additional information about you that helps us to show you actions that are relevant to you. For example, we may want to know if you are a teacher, police officer, licensed social worker, or software developer so that we can connect your skills to the needs of organizations in your community. At all times, we promise you the following: we will not sell your personal data. We have no incentive to do so because we are not supported by ads.
Only You See The Actions You Have Taken
In addition to your personal information, the actions you take on ActWorthy will not be available to any user or customer of our platform. We want you to feel free to support the organizations and causes of your choosing without fear of reprisal for your colleagues, family members, friends, customers, or anyone else. You get to decide which actions you want to share from ActWorthy to other social media sites, where your profile can be associated with that action. We want to give you that power. That’s why we will never let anyone see the actions you have taken without your explicit approval.
The only information that is available about you to ActWorthy’s customers is aggregated data about you:
- How many actions you have taken
- How many points you have received for these actions (points are an indicator of effort and impact)
And aggregated data about your geographic area:
- What issues people care most about in your area
- What types of or specific actions are popular in your area
- What types of messages have inspired the most action for each issue
When ActWorthy Shares Your Contact Information
ActWorthy wants to protect your contact information from spam, but we also want to provide an opportunity for you to deepen your relationship with social good organizations.
If you want to build a relationship with a new activist or organization without providing your contact details, you can:
- Take an action that organization recommends
- Follow that organization
- Post on the Inspire feed about that organization’s action
None of the actions above will result in the organization receiving your contact information.
However, there is a certain point in the relationship where the organization needs your contact information in order to effectively work with you. These include:
- If you attend one of their events
- If you want to volunteer for them
- If you choose to make a donation
These three types of actions will ask for your explicit confirmation that you understand your contact information is being shared to the organization in question. By the time you attend an event, volunteer, or donate to an organization, we hope you already trust the organization enough to allow them to reach out to you directly.
But What About The Algorithms?
Ad-supported platforms require algorithms that use your personal data to determine which content is most likely to keep you on their sites and which advertisements are most likely to induce you to click and buy. This encourages them to build extensive demographic profiles of you so that advertisers can target you with more precision.
At ActWorthy, we use your activity on the site to determine which actions are most likely to encourage you to take more action. We do not care how much time you spend on our site, unless that time results in more actions taken. By helping you discover and take new actions, we will build a system that finds actions you can take to make an impact on your issues in your community. We have no incentive to build a profile of you beyond the information that will help us to encourage you to take more action.
We Want To Build Trust With You
We rely on the trust of our customer organizations and users who take action on our site. We want to start our relationship from a position of trust by being transparent about how we use your data to make an impact and operate our business. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email me at ross@actworthy.org. I would love to continue the conversation about ActWorthy’s privacy policies and use of data.
Visit actworthy.org to create an account and begin taking action today!
