TL;DR - If you are someone who is acutely vulnerable to digital threats or surveillance, we cannot promise you absolute safety.
We know that for many people, digital security and increasing their privacy is something that feels important and worthy. That’s why we’re excited about this project - we want to collaborate with our audience to shake off our paralysis and think rationally and practically about how to balance ease, access, and privacy online and off.
For other people, maintaining digital security can have a direct impact on their physical safety and well-being. Human rights defenders worldwide, from women’s rights organizers in Mexico to environmental campaigners in Colombia to gay rights activists in Pakistan, have been targeted for digital surveillance.
If that is you (and it’s probably not *many* of you, but maybe!), then send us a letter. Snail mail.
Note to Self
160 Varick Street
New York NY 10013
We will send you back a paper printout of the challenges, so you can play along.
We always make our best efforts to keep safe any information you share with Note to Self. When our show sparkles, it’s because it has your voices and thoughts in it.
For this project, Note to Self will not be gathering any additional information beyond what you voluntarily share with us. That means voice memos, emails to us, and your responses to the challenges in the newsletters. We may use your voice memos and emails in the show, like we usually do. We’ll be reflecting on your answers to the challenges, to help us (and you guys!) understand how our week of actions affect us.
We are a news organization, and we take protecting our sources seriously. WNYC spells out how the station uses information you provide. That legalese is here. We partner with third parties, like Typeform and Mail Chimp. The WNYC website also partners with third-party services, which are listed here, along with their privacy policies. And our team often uses Google services like Gmail and Google Drive. Google’s privacy policy is here and here.
We cannot promise that no service we partner with or use will never be hacked, or will never comply with a National Security Letter. So again, if you are someone who by the very act of expressing interest in digital security might put themselves at risk if that interest became known, you may want to tread lightly and correspond with us the old-fashioned way. For the rest of you, most of you, sign up for the newsletter and participate online.
