Posted on June 24, 2021
Your phone apps are tracking you. Here’s how to stop them.
Have you ever searched for something on your phone, like a new shirt, plane ticket or computer, then get the sinking feeling you’re being followed online with ads for the same product for the next few days?
You’re not alone. Your phone apps are helping marketers target and track you across the internet. For some, it’s a useful way to see products you might purchase. For others, it feels like an invasion of privacy.
Here are a few simple tips to protect your privacy and prevent these apps from tracking you online.
Turn off app tracking
A new feature built into iOS 14.5 released this April was App Tracking Transparency, which allows you to give explicit permission to apps to share your data, location and other identifiers that can allow third parties to serve you with targeted ads. Here’s how to manage this new feature:
- For new apps that you download, you will automatically receive a pop-up notification upon opening that asks if you would like the app to track your activity and explains how it will use your data. You can choose Ask App not to Track or Allow.
- For apps that you have already downloaded and use, you can control tracking permissions on an app-by-app basis. Go to Settings > Privacy > Tracking, and for each app in the list, you can choose which apps to allow or prevent tracking.
- You can turn off app tracking altogether by going to Settings > Privacy > Tracking, and turning off Allow Apps to Request to Track. This should prevent new apps from tracking by default and stop current apps from tracking you.
If you have an Android phone, this feature is not available to you — at least not yet. Google has announced that it will start allowing users to opt-out of ad tracking sometime in late 2021 for devices that run Android 12. Android users can still turn off ads personalization in the Google ad network by going to Settings > Google > Ads and toggling off Opt out of Ads Personalization.
Turn off location tracking (iOS and Android)
Sharing your location data with certain apps is absolutely essential for the app to work properly, like navigation and map apps, rideshare apps, or weather apps. Sharing your location data for apps like these is pretty helpful, if not critical, to ensure the best experience.
But marketers can also use your geolocation data to target you with advertisements. If you’d like to read more, check out this visual explanation from the Boston Globe on how it all works.
If you’d like to control how you share your location data, here’s how:
- In iOS, go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services. Here, you will see a list of all the apps that have asked to access your location data. Choose the app you’d like to change permissions for, and select Never, Ask Next Time, While Using the App, or Always.
- Alternatively, you can also toggle Location Services to Off, but that could prevent some of your apps from not being able to function properly.
- For Android devices (this will be dependent on your device manufacturer and Android version), go to Settings > Location > App Permissions. Choose the specific app you’d like to change and choose Deny.
- You can also disable location services altogether by going to Settings > Location > App Permissions and toggling off the Location at the top of the menu.
Turn off access to your phone’s microphone
It’s all happened to us: We’re having a conversation with friends about the latest TV show or gadget, and then we see an ad on our phone soon after. It really seems like our phone was listening to us. Many people have reported this exact same experience, too, yet app developers claim they do not use ambient noise from our phone’s microphones to determine which ads to show users.
If you’re concerned that your phone is listening to you, you can turn off microphone access app-by-app. Here’s how:
- In iOS, go to Settings > Privacy > Microphone. You will see a list of all the apps that have requested access to your device’s microphone. Toggle which app you’d like to turn on or off.
- You can also turn off Siri, Apple’s voice assistant, which also uses your microphone. Go to Settings > Siri & Search. Toggle off Listen for “Hey Siri” and Press Side Button for Siri.
- For Android devices (this will be dependent on your device manufacturer and Android version), go to Settings > Privacy > App Permissions > Microphone and choose which apps you’d like to turn on or off.
- You can also turn off Google Assistant. Go to Settings > Google > Account Services > Search > Voice > Voice Match and turn it off.
If you want another layer to protect your data from advertisers, consider joining CREDO Mobile. CREDO customers never have to worry that their data is for sale. As a carrier, we don’t share your cell phone usage data with advertisers. In fact, data privacy is at the core of our business, and CREDO customers can rest assured that we take your privacy very seriously.
Click here to learn more about how CREDO protects your data — and how other major carriers like AT&T and T-Mobile do not.
Posted on June 21, 2021
AT&T donated more than $1.1 million to anti-LGBTQ lawmakers
This Pride Month, as it always has, AT&T changed its corporate logo to a rainbow, issued statements for equality and tweeted out support for LGBTQ youth — all for a month-long marketing campaign.
But a stunning new report from Popular Information found that over the last two years AT&T donated $1,079,500 to anti-LGBTQ federal politicians, as well as $59,450 to state-level lawmakers who sponsored anti-trans bills that target LGBTQ youth.
These recent donations are in addition to the $2.755 million that AT&T donated to 193 anti-LGBTQ politicians in 2017 and 2018.
AT&T can tout its support for equality and inclusivity, but its millions in donations to right-wing bigots tell another story.
In its recent report, Popular Information found that 25 major corporations donated more than $10 million to anti-LGBTQ politicians who earned a zero rating on the Human Rights Campaign’s latest Congressional scorecard, which measures support for equality by lawmakers in Congress.
AT&T’s donation put the telecom giant near the top of the list of companies donating to lawmakers who scored zero, second only to Comcast:
The report also highlighted a business statement organized by HRC, signed by AT&T more than 130 other companies, opposing anti-LGBTQ legislation at the state level which explicitly called out attacks on trans youth, saying:
We are deeply concerned by the bills being introduced in state houses across the country that single out LGBTQ individuals – many specifically targeting transgender youth – for exclusion or differential treatment.
Yet, AT&T donated nearly $60,000 to anti-trans lawmakers in Arkansas ($12,950), Tennessee ($4,000), North Carolina ($5,000), Texas ($22,500), and Florida ($17,500) who sponsored anti-trans bills at the state level, some of which specifically target transgender youth.
These new revelations are disturbing, yet completely unsurprising. In 2019, we highlighted Judd Legum’s reporting that found AT&T had donated to $2.7 million to nearly 200 anti-LGBTQ politicians, like Sen. Marsha Blackburn, who supported Donald Trump’s ban on trans people in the military, regularly voted against protections for LGBTQ people and opposed marriage equality, and Ted Cruz, who co-sponsored a bill that would sanction discrimination by businesses against LGBTQ people and urged states to ignore the Supreme Court’s ruling affirming marriage equality.
AT&T has a long history of being on the wrong side of history. The company donated millions to Donald Trump and hired his criminal associates. It lobbied Congress for massive tax breaks to create jobs, then laid off workers. It donated $200,000 to anti-abortion politicians. The company even helped re-elect a white supremacist.
Here at CREDO, we don’t support anti-LGBTQ politicians – and we never will.
In fact, CREDO donates to organizations fighting for LGBTQ rights like the Transgender Law Center and the National LGBTQ Task Force. In total, CREDO members have helped us contribute nearly $15 million to groups fighting for civil rights and equality.
And unlike AT&T and other major carriers, we don’t plaster a rainbow flag on our logo during Pride Month – because we don’t need to. We stand with the LGBTQ community all year long.
This month, our allies at Freedom for All Americans, who are fighting to pass the Equality Act in Congress, are on our June donations ballot. Take a minute to drop them a vote at CREDOdonations.com.
If you’d like to learn more about how you can help fund progressive organizations fighting for climate justice, economic justice, civil rights and equality just by signing up for great mobile service, click here to find out how you can make the switch and join CREDO Mobile.
Posted on June 14, 2021
5 ways to celebrate Juneteenth this year
This week, Americans across the country will celebrate Juneteenth, the day more than a century and a half ago that enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas were finally told they were free.
The day has been celebrated by the African-American community for more than a century as America’s second independence day. There’s been renewed interest in Juneteenth after George Floyd’s murder, the countless other Black people affected by police violence, and nationwide protests calling for justice.
If you’ve never celebrated Juneteenth before, here are some ways to honor and celebrate freedom, equality and Black history.
What is Juneteenth?
On June 19, 1865 — two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation — Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, rode to Galveston to notify enslaved people that the Civil War had ended and they were now free. The name is a portmanteau of June and nineteenth, and is also known as “Emancipation Day,” “Freedom Day,” and “Liberation Day.” Here’s a history of Juneteenth from Vox to learn more.
Support Black-owned businesses
The pandemic has been tough for so many small businesses across the country, and Black-owned small businesses have been hit especially hard.
Our allies at Color of Change created the “Black Business Green Book,” a site where you can search Black-owned small businesses by state or keyword, or browse by a number of categories, including Health/Wellness, Food & Drink, Home Goods and more.
You can also check out our curated list to support Black-owned businesses every month from this February.
Protect the right to vote
Today, the right to vote, especially for Black Americans, is under threat. More than 350 voter suppression bills have been introduced in state legislatures across the country, and so far, according to our allies at the Brennan Center for Justice, at least 14 states have enacted 22 laws that are designed to make it harder to vote. Many of these laws will suppress the vote in Black communities
Our partners at Fair Fight Action and Black Voters Matter are doing some incredible work to protect voting rights, especially in the wake of these voter suppression attempts. Learn how you can get involved and volunteer with these two amazing organizations.
Visit locations that celebrate Black culture and history
Take some time to learn more about Black culture and history this Juneteenth. Visit the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture in Washington, D.C., the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco, the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis or the Northwest African American Museum in Seattle. Fodor’s has curated a list of 15 “unmissable” Black history museums, too.
If you don’t have a venue near you that celebrates Black history (or you’d rather not visit in person), the New York Public Library offers a virtual archive of podcasts, audio recordings, videos and vast digital collections to enjoy.
Advocate to make Juneteenth a national holiday
Juneteenth isn’t a national holiday, yet, but it should be. In 1980, Texas became the first state in the nation to make Juneteenth a state holiday, and since then, nearly every state recognizes the holiday in some form.
The movement to make Juneteenth a federal holiday is gaining steam. On June 15, the Senate unanimously passed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, legislation to recognize the day federally, and now the bill heads to the House. Urge your representative to pass this important bill by calling the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121, or by emailing your member of Congress here.
Follow the work of our allies
Since 1985, CREDO has donated more than $25 million to our allies who are fighting for civil rights, equality and voting rights.
This month, open up your social media accounts and email inboxes to keep up with the important work of some of our allies who are doing critical work to honor Black culture and history and working to protect communities of color and the right to vote. Here are just a few:
- Color of Change
- Black Voters Matter
- Fair Fight Action
- Zinn Education Project
- Brennan Center for Justice
- American Civil Liberties Union
- Southern Poverty Law Center
- NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
Learn more about our donations program and vote for this month’s grantees at CREDODonations.com.
Posted on June 10, 2021
How to safely sanitize your phone and keep it germ-free
Let’s face it: Our phones are filthy. We touch contaminated surfaces then touch our devices. We speak right into our phones, transferring germs from our mouth. We have our phones when we eat and — let’s be honest — when we use the restroom.
Now that we’re heading back out into the world, we could be contaminating our phones even more on public transportation, at restaurants and in other public settings.
Bacteria and viruses can live on certain surfaces from a few hours to days, so we should regularly disinfect our phones to prevent the spread of transmissible diseases. Here are a few simple tips to keep your phone germ-free.
Studies show that our phones carry around 17,000 bacteria per square inch — 10 times more bacteria than a toilet seat — and we touch our phones roughly 2,617 times a day. For heavy phone users, that number jumps to 5,427 times.
In addition to washing your hands regularly and avoiding touching your face to reduce germ transmission, we recommend these steps to clean your cell phone and other devices:
- Unplug and power down your device.
- Remove your phone case, if you have one. If your case is waterproof, wash it thoroughly with soap and water, and let it dry completely.
- Use a good, lint-free microfiber or lens cleaning cloth to remove oil and fingerprints.
- Don’t spray any disinfecting liquids directly on your device, as they may damage your device or its coating.
- Gently use a Clorox Disinfecting Wipe or 70 percent isopropyl alcohol wipe to disinfect your phone. You can also spray a 70% alcohol solution on your cloth, but not directly on your device. Do not use bleach and don’t submerge your phone in liquids. (Read more from Apple.)
- Samsung recommends using a “hypochlorous acid-based solution (containing 50-80ppm) or an alcohol-based solution (containing more than 70% ethanol or isopropyl alcohol)” gently applied to your device using a microfiber cloth.
- Allow your device to air dry for five minutes.
- Alternatively, you can purchase a UV-C sterilization device which works by shining a type of ultraviolet light that can destroy the genetic material of viruses and bacteria.
Posted on June 8, 2021
CREDO funding helped Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières respond to the global pandemic
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an independent international medical humanitarian organization that provides emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, natural disasters, and exclusion from health care, regardless of race, religion, gender or political affiliation.
Thanks to CREDO members who enabled us to donate $52,665 to Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières in 2020, the organization was able to care for more than 10 million people caught in some of the world’s worst emergencies, and CREDO support made MSF’s rapid response to the COVID-19 pandemic possible.
Because of the support in part from CREDO and our members in 2020, MSF teams were able to quickly adapt to a world with COVID-19 and prepared its 400+ programs for this global threat — implementing infection prevention measures, reorganizing patient flow in hospitals, and training health care and nursing home staff. As the pandemic spread, MSF rapidly scaled up COVID-19 treatment capacity and focused on some of the hardest-hit areas, many in locations where it had never worked before.
At the same time, MSF teams continued to treat children suffering from malnutrition, war wounded and burn victims, and people with malaria, HIV, tuberculosis, and other diseases. While caring for patients, MSF continued its innovative efforts to stem the spread of antibiotic resistance and responded to other emergencies, including mass displacements in Syria and outbreaks of Ebola and measles.
MSF vaccinates 2,000 children who due to the terrible living conditions, including the lack of basic sanitation, severe overcrowding, and extremely limited access to healthcare, coupled with the forthcoming winter, are extremely vulnerable to illness. Photo © Anna Pantelia/MSF
Below are a few examples of successful medical humanitarian responses MSF conducted this past year thanks to CREDO’s support:
Launching Dedicated COVID-19 programs
From Yemen and Iraq to Ivory Coast and South Africa, from Cambodia and Malaysia to Haiti and Brazil, MSF opened dedicated COVID-19 medical projects in hard-hit countries, strengthened infection prevention and control (IPC) across their programs to protect staff and patients alike, and prepared for this global threat to health systems.
Sustaining Essential Medical Care Amid a Global Pandemic
In many of the places where MSF works—where health systems are already fragile and people live in precarious conditions—keeping essential health services available and accessible is vital to prevent losing more lives, whether from measles, malaria, malnutrition, or complicated pregnancies. Since the beginning of the pandemic, MSF has sought to keep essential medical services up and running for the millions of patients who rely on MSF while also preparing for and responding to the threat of the virus itself.
Ensuring Vaccinations for Deadly Diseases
In many parts of the world, parents already struggle to protect their children from vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles and whooping cough, which claim hundreds of thousands of young lives each year. The COVID-19 pandemic is putting vaccination programs all over the world at serious risk, and the repercussions on the youngest lives could be devastating.
Last spring, as a massive measles epidemic continued to grip the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), MSF Emergency Response Teams vaccinated 260,000 children during one of their first campaigns since the COVID-19 pandemic began. In September, MSF also vaccinated 50,000 children between the ages of 6 months and 14 years in Timbuktu, Mali, where several cases had been reported.
Safeguarding Reproductive Health Care for Women and Girls
Reproductive health care is essential to preventing maternal and neonatal mortality, but the health needs of women and girls are often neglected in the midst of an emergency—and COVID-19 is no exception. All over the world, MSF teams are seeing women and girls cut off from the health services they need due to closures of health facilities, cuts in services, and supply shortages. The impact is especially severe in places with weak or overburdened health systems.
MSF has therefore adapted its programs to ensure continued access to vital care for women and girls, for instance by using telehealth for prenatal and postnatal care in Arauca, Colombia and for counseling for sexual violence victims in Rustenburg, South Africa. At a MSF project serving refugees on the island of Samos, Greece, camp residents with medical backgrounds have been trained to identify individuals with health needs and use telehealth to connect those patients with the MSF team for care.
To learn more and get involved with MSF’s life-saving medical humanitarian work, please visit www.doctorswithoutborders.org or follow the organization on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.
Posted on June 7, 2021
Freedom For All Americans fighting for Equality
Did you know that across America, 13 million LGBTQ people are vulnerable to discrimination in their everyday lives? It’s true—we hear these stories of discrimination every day:
- In Michigan, a pediatrician refused to see Krista and Jami’s 6-day-old baby for her first checkup, because her parents are a same-sex couple.
- In Indiana, U.S. Army veteran Jessica couldn’t get her military records changed to reflect her gender and new name, even though she was a member of the first group of soldiers to be deployed during the Iraq War.
- In Texas, an H&R block agent said he couldn’t do Kim and Debbie’s taxes “in good conscience” because they’re a married couple.
- In Ohio, Théo thought he had found the perfect apartment. But when the landlord learned Théo is transgender, he forced him out—and as a result, Théo had to drop out of school and move in with his parents.
- In Arizona, Jim and Bob were harassed at their retirement community simply because they’re a married couple. The harassment got so bad they concluded the community wasn’t safe, and had to move—a huge financial burden.
- And in Montana, a landlord told Kathleen that they wouldn’t “rent to your kind” when Kathleen mentioned her fiancée Casey and their son.
In 29 states—including all the states above—there are no laws that explicitly protect LGBTQ people from being discriminated against at work, when looking for a place to live, or when trying to access public spaces and services. This patchwork of protections leaves too many people behind.
There is a solution: The Equality Act. The Equality Act would update federal law to ensure explicit nondiscrimination protections in key areas of life, including employment, housing, education, and public spaces—like restaurants and shops—for all LGBTQ people, no matter what zip code they call home.
Freedom for All Americans is the bipartisan campaign to win these nondiscrimination protections nationwide, with our ultimate goal being to secure federal statutory protections like the Equality Act.
Our work brings together Republicans and Democrats, businesses large and small, people of faith, and allies from all walks of life to make the case for comprehensive nondiscrimination protections that ensure everyone is treated fairly and equally.
America is clearly ready for this legislation. The House vote was a bipartisan 224-206, and a recent survey by the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) found that 76 percent of Americans support LGBTQ nondiscrimination protections, including 62 percent of Republicans, 78 percent of independents and 85 percent of Democrats.
The Equality Act has also been endorsed by a broad coalition that includes more than 300 businesses, 50 trade and professional associations, and 500 advocacy organizations. And thousands of American faith leaders of all denominations have urged Congress to pass these protections as well. The same PRRI survey shows majorities of all major American religious denominations support LGBTQ-inclusive nondiscrimination protections.
Funding from CREDO will help FFAA run highly individualized education and lobbying campaigns targeting conservative senators in 11 states, to provide both personal and public pressure and achieve the 60 Senate votes needed to pass the Equality Act.
Vote now for Freedom for All Americans to receive crucial fundraising support from CREDO.
Posted on June 7, 2021
To Protect Our Rainforests, Protect Rainforest Dwellers
If you destroy an ecosystem, you destroy the people who live there. But too often, the plight of indigenous peoples is ignored by conservationists. As indigenous leader Gregorio Díaz Mirabal recently told the New York Times, “If you’re going to save only the insects and the animals and not the indigenous people, there’s a big contradiction… we’re one ecosystem.”
Rainforest Foundation US works with indigenous groups throughout the Americas to protect the tropical forests they depend upon. Our organization is guided not just by humanitarian values, but also by the evidence, which shows that indigenous communities conserve their forest territories more successfully and cost-effectively than other protective entities—including national parks.
But indigenous territories are vast, and are under attack from powerful black-market forces: narcotics cultivators, gold miners, and loggers, amongst others. Indigenous peoples shouldn’t have to defend this territory on their own.
In Peru, we’ve trained indigenous peoples to fight deforestation via a mix of technologies, including drones, smartphones, and satellites. The system we’ve deployed (known locally as “community monitoring”) is scalable, cost-effective, and illustrates what we’ve always believed: That indigenous peoples are capable of using sophisticated technology to play a leading role in the fight against deforestation.
We conducted a study over the past two years that proves this approach works. In the Peruvian Amazon, we divided dozens of indigenous communities into two groups: a “treatment” group, and a “control” group. The treatment group was trained in (and implemented) the technologies. The control group was not. Two years later, the data are clear: using smartphones and satellites, indigenous communities drastically reduced the destruction of their lands.
Tropical rainforests are integral to blunting the effects of climate change—they trap approximately half of all human-made emissions. And these forests are disappearing at an astonishing rate. In 2020, the world lost more than 10.4 million acres of tropical rainforest—an area the size of the Netherlands. And when a tropical rainforest tree is felled, we pay the price twice. First, because cutting down a tree means one less tree capturing carbon and creating oxygen; the world’s green lungs are diminished. Second, because the burning of a felled tree releases carbon into the atmosphere; instead of fresh air, we get smoke.
Our trajectory is unsustainable. On the course we’re on, climate change will pose an existential threat to humanity in our lifetimes.
Protecting the land rights of indigenous peoples is a key part of the solution. Around the world, more than 1.8 million square miles of rainforest fall under government-recognized indigenous territories—an area the size of India and Greenland combined. Indigenous people have repeatedly demonstrated their ability to live in harmony with the natural world. If we’re going to win the war against climate change, we need to protect the people who protect the land.
Rainforest Foundation US is on the front lines of that struggle. And in the last year alone, we’ve made so much progress.
In Guyana, we recently completed an indigenous land tenure assessment with our partner, the Amerindian Peoples Association. That project maps historic indigenous land holdings across the nation, down to the acre: an unprecedented project that will serve as a valuable tool for indigenous rights attorneys and public advocacy groups as they petition their government in the near future.
In Brazil, we’re working with partners to scale up a reforestation program in the northern state of Roraima, where we’re also working to combat the deleterious effects of gold mining, which has wrought violence and pollution on indigenous communities like the Yanomami.
And in Panama, we helped create an online map that tracks COVID cases and shows resource scarcity amongst 48 indigenous territories so that humanitarian organizations like the United Nations are better able to allocate their resources and efforts. That’s proven especially useful during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has simultaneously heightened demand and complicated outreach.
To learn more about Rainforest Foundation US, please visit our website at https://rainforestfoundation.org/. Together, we can bring about a world that is healthier and more compassionate. We hope you’ll consider joining us in our mission: to help future generations. To help distant neighbors. To help each other. Our forests are the lungs of this planet. When selfish, we choke. Together we breathe.
Posted on June 7, 2021
World Refugee Day – Celebrating the Courage of Refugees Through Art
This upcoming June 20th marks World Refugee Day, a moment to recognize the strength, courage, and resilience of refugees, asylum seekers, and all displaced people whose lives have been uprooted by crisis.
From the conflict zones of Syria, to the threat of famine in Yemen, to Central American families seeking safety at the US border, there are now more than 80 million people around the world who have been forced to flee their homes. Unfortunately, these record-breaking statistics come at a time when the most vulnerable communities face a double emergency: conflict and displacement itself, alongside COVID-19 and the long-term economic crisis it has triggered.
Now, as much of our world is beginning to return to normalcy and as vaccines continue to be administered around the globe, the international community must work together to ensure refugees are not left behind.
At the International Rescue Committee, we have teams in over 40 countries and over 20 US cities, providing immediate relief to refugees at the onset of a crisis, and helping them rebuild their lives once they have settled into their new communities. While it is critical to recognize the ongoing struggles and obstacles facing refugees, World Refugee Day is also a time to celebrate their resilience and contributions, and how accepting displaced people into our communities makes the world a better place.
For 2021, we are continuing to put the spotlight on refugee heroes and recognize how courage and creativity in the displaced experience have intersected to forge a way forward. This year’s campaign will put a specific emphasis on the unique contributions of refugee artists, who are providing hope, inspiration, passion, and belonging.
Throughout the pandemic, art has played an important role in so many of our lives. During times of crisis, art especially has the power to move, inspire, and unite, and to help us feel more connected and less alone during this unprecedented moment in history. Across the IRC’s digital media channels and live activations, refugee artists – including painters, dancers, musicians, and more – will “take over” the internet in a celebration of courage and creativity.
With so much inspirational content being celebrated, there are many ways to participate in the IRC’s campaign and to use your own platform to show that you stand with refugees:
- Share Refugee Art: Take part in the IRC’s digital campaign and share content from our social media channels. We will have an original illustration created by a refugee artist for supporters to share far and wide on their social media feeds. The illustration will be complemented by our marquee artist videos, adding up to a “takeover” of the internet with refugee art.
- Attend our Virtual Summit on Refugee Resettlement in the US: The IRC is bringing together refugee voices, policymakers, and experts to discuss how the US can improve its refugee integration processes and provide stronger education and economic conditions for refugees. Be sure to register for part or all of the event here.
- Learn more at rescue.org for more ways to support the IRC.
Posted on June 7, 2021
Park equity must be focus of COVID-19 recovery
As restaurants, movie theaters, and gyms closed their doors over the past year, local park use increased. It’s easy to understand why. Parks, trails, and open space provided locked-down and stressed-out families with rare opportunities to exercise, get some fresh air, and connect with nature. As the pandemic dragged on, Americans also used parks creatively to help with COVID-19 response, distributing masks, providing COVID testing, most recently, providing vaccinations. 
However, a new discovery about parks made by the Trust for Public Land and reported in our nonprofit’s annual ParkScore® index found that park space is not distributed equitably. Across all cities evaluated by the ParkScore index, residents in neighborhoods where most people identify as people of color have access to 44 percent less park space per person than residents in neighborhoods that are predominantly white. Residents in low-income neighborhoods have access to 42 percent less park space than residents in high-income neighborhoods.
It isn’t right, and it isn’t fair.
Every month CREDO Mobile gives to progressive causes. This month we need you to use your outside voice for The Trust for Public Land! Your vote can help create parks, playgrounds, trails, and protect natural spaces. With one click you can help ensure that all people have access to the health benefits and climate solutions that nature provides.
The 2021 ParkScore index quantified park inequity for the first time, but the inequities themselves have existed for decades, caused by dozens of policy decisions, including redlining, discriminatory zoning, and much more. That’s why we’re working with on-the-ground community members and park advocates to make a more equitable park system as part of the pandemic recovery.
We can emerge from this terrible year a fairer, stronger, and more equitable place. The Trust for Public Land is working hard to promote park equity, but we need your help. Please vote for us today. 
Posted on June 3, 2021
9 ways to reduce your mobile data usage and save money
Over the last year, we’ve been using the Internet more than ever before. In fact, at-home data usage surged during the pandemic as many people transitioned to remote work and learning and spent more time streaming entertainment from home.
Now as life starts returning to normal — and we’re home less often — we could see large spikes in our cellular data usage since our mobile devices will no longer be tethered to our home WiFi networks.
All this cellular data usage may come with unexpected overages and bills, too. Here are some easy-to-follow tips to help you find ways to conserve your data and save some money at the same time.
Connect to WiFi whenever possible
Over the last year, you most likely were connected to your home WiFi network when using your mobile device, which reduced the amount of cellular data you used. Unfortunately, we’ve seen situations where customers thought they were connected to their home WiFi network while watching Netflix, but unfortunately, they were using cellular data and eating up monthly usage. For reference, streaming HD quality video can use anywhere between 1GB to 3GB per hour.
As you venture into the world, you will have opportunities to connect to other WiFi networks to help reduce your cellular data consumption. Here are some quick tips:
- To connect to a WiFi, make sure your WiFi settings are turned on, and you are connected to an available WiFi network. Here’s how to connect to WiFi for iOS and Android.
- If you’re working in an office or other workplace, check with your employer to see if you can connect your device to your employer’s network securely over WiFi during the work day.
- When visiting friends and family, ask to connect to their WiFi network if possible.
Be wary of public WiFi networks
As always, be careful of public WiFi networks, like at coffee shops, shopping areas, or airports, as you may put your personal information at risk. Many times these networks are not secure and other users may be able to see your internet traffic, including your personal information, logins and passwords.
If you are going to use a public WiFi network to reduce your cellular data usage, make sure you are connecting to secure networks and connecting to secure websites and apps. Consider using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) app to encrypt your internet activity (here’s our tip on how to get a VPN for your phone). And make sure not to access personal or financial information on public WiFi.
Here are some more tips from the Federal Trade Commission on how to use public WiFi networks safely.
Turn off Wi-Fi Assist or Smart Network Switch
WiFi Assist (iOS) and Smart Network Switch (some Android models) are built-in settings that try to boost a spotty or slow WiFi connection by using your cellular connection. But, these settings can also use a lot of data, too.
- To turn this setting on or off on your Apple device, go to Settings > Cellular or Settings > Mobile Data. Then scroll down and tap the slider for Wi-Fi Assist.
- On your Android device, go to Settings > Connections > Wi-Fi. Tap the three dots, select Advanced, and tap the slider for “Switch to mobile data.”
Turn off cellular data for specific apps
Some apps are data hogs, and you might not know which ones are eating up your monthly cellular data until it’s too late. Thankfully, you have some control to limit which specific apps can be used on a cellular network for both Apple and Android devices.
- On your Apple device, go to Settings > Cellular or Settings > Mobile Data. Scroll down to see which apps are using cellular data and toggle them on or off. You will also be able to view which apps are using the most data and consider limiting their use only to when you’re on a WiFi network.
- For Android devices, the process may vary depending on the device model. Open the Settings app > Wireless & networks > Data usage > Network access > Selectively uncheck which apps you would like to prevent from using cellular data.
Limit monthly data usage (Android)
Keeping an eye on your monthly data usage will really go a long way to prevent unexpected overages.
Android makes it very easy to limit your monthly data usage with a built-in feature allowing you to set up a warning when you’re reaching your data limit — or by actually limiting your cellular data to a set amount based on your billing cycle. Here’s how to set that up (note: these instructions may vary depending on your device):
- Go to Settings > Network & internet > Data usage > Data warning & limit (or Data limit & billing cycle) to set your maximum amount of data you want to use for the month. Or, tap “App data usage cycle” to set the first day of your billing cycle.
Watch your monthly data (iOS)
Apple devices don’t include the same built-in feature to physically restrict your data usage, so you’ll need to keep an eye on your data use in your device’s settings.
- To see how much cellular data you’ve used, go to Settings > Cellular or Settings > Mobile Data. (On an iPad, it may be Settings > Cellular Data)
- You can also reset your data usage for the “Current Period” here every month so you know how much you’re using each billing cycle.
- Alternatively, you can log into your CREDO account periodically to keep an eye on your data usage, too!
Update apps over WiFi only
If you have your apps set to update automatically, they may be draining your data over a cellular network. You can set your device to update apps over WiFi only to save your monthly data.
- On iOS, go to Settings > App Store > scroll to “Cellular Data” and toggle “Automatic Downloads” to the off position.
- On Android, go to the Play Store and tap Menu > Settings > Auto-update apps, then select “Auto-update apps over Wi-Fi only.”
Disable app data in the background
Some of your apps will continue to gather data in the background while you’re not using your phone. This is a great feature for, say, a news app to give you the freshest information the next time you load the app, but not every app needs this feature.
- To turn this feature off for your apps on iOS, go to Settings > General > Background App Refresh. Here, you can choose whether you want this feature on or off completely, or just WiFi only. You can also toggle this on and off for individual apps.
- On Android, go to Settings > Data Usage to see which apps are using the most data. Tap on the app you’d like to restrict and disable background data.
Upgrade your data plan
If all else fails, you have the option to upgrade to a plan with a higher monthly data limit. In the end, it may be one of the best options if you need more cellular data than your current plan allows.
Learn more about all the plans we offer and find the right one for your data needs.
