Posted on July 13, 2017
CREDO Mobile Earns Top Marks for Protecting Consumer Privacy
New report on privacy practices shows CREDO Mobile’s dedication to safeguarding customer data
A new report by the Electronic Frontier Foundation evaluating top tech companies’ consumer privacy protections recognized CREDO Mobile’s dedication to safeguarding customer data in all five categories evaluated. The report, Who Has Your Back? Government Data Requests 2017 is available here. CREDO Mobile is the only mobile carrier to receive five stars; all other mobile carriers evaluated received one star.
The report analyzed thousands of requests by the United States Government for consumer data and surveillance attempts, and evaluated the companies’ responses against industry best practices. Baseline best practices include publishing a transparency report and requiring a warrant before releasing user content to the government.
“At CREDO, we stand for protecting internet privacy and have a long history of fighting for it,” said CREDO Mobile CEO Ray Morris. “By leading the way in adopting policies to protect consumers, promote transparency, and resist government overreach, we’re living our progressive values in a way that truly matters for our members.”
CREDO Mobile received recognition in all five categories: following industry-wide best practices, telling users about government data requests, promising not to sell out users, standing up to national security letter gag orders and having pro-user public policies. Only nine companies received credit in each category. CREDO Mobile has received a perfect score each time it has been evaluated in the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s “Who Has Your Back?” reports.
Posted on July 12, 2017
Mobile app of the month: Countable
When you think of the tools and tactics of the resistance to Donald Trump and heartless extremists in Congress, you might think petitions, marches, protests, sit-ins, letters, phone calls or even civil disobedience.
What if you had another tool that could allow you to record a video for policymakers without ever leaving your house?
Now you do. Countable, a startup located in San Francisco, enables people to know what their elected officials are up to and record video messages telling them directly how to vote on upcoming bills.
With Countable’s free Android or iOS app, you can read plain language summaries of upcoming legislation, tell your representatives how to vote by clicking “yea” or “nay” on the bills and make 30 second videos that will be sent to your lawmakers.
At CREDO, we’re using Countable to allow our members to share their own stories and promote our donations grantees. For example, to keep up the pressure on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to protect net neutrality, we’ve asked partners and CREDO activists to record short videos describing why net neutrality is important to them. We’ll be delivering the videos directly to the FCC. Moreover, to make sure Republican Senators in key states hear directly from their constituents about Trumpcare, we’ve asked CREDO members in those states to record video messages telling their own stories. You can watch our powerful compilation of health care stories here.
We’re also asking CREDO members to record videos to explain why they joined CREDO Mobile or voted for their favorite progressive organizations during our monthly donations voting program.
You can learn more about the app and the company on their website.
Posted on July 12, 2017
The Power of Organizing
There’s no doubt that we are living in unprecedented times in terms of the level of attacks from the Trump administration against women’s health and Latinx folks. But we’re also living in a time of powerful grassroots resistance emerging across the country – and week after week, we can see how well that resistance is working. That’s why I’m so proud of our long-time activism work with CREDO and thankful for their members who are among – and continue to be – some of Planned Parenthood’s most loyal supporters.
As the deputy program manager for Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s Raíz program, I see the power of this resistance every day. Since the Trump administration took office, people have been marching in the streets, flooding town halls, and calling their members of Congress so much that they actually shut down the Congressional switchboard.
But that power didn’t start when Trump took office. Beginning in 2014, the Raíz organizers have worked to build sustainable, community-organizing teams as members of and in partnership with the Latinx community. Raíz began as an unparalleled effort to sign the Latinx community up for health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and I’ve seen firsthand in my work helping uninsured communities how critical it is – especially Latinx folks who saw the largest reduction in uninsurance rates among any demographic group. Organizing worked – it helped make sure people were healthier, and began to help break down barriers to accessing quality, affordable, and accessible health care that existed in the Latinx community.
Posted on July 5, 2017
We helped plant 11,110 trees. Thanks!
Here at CREDO, we’re always thinking of new ways we can make our planet a greener place. In June, we pledged to help plant 10 trees for each new phone we sold. Well, we’ve tallied the numbers and we’re pleased to tell you that there are now 11,110 more trees planted in the earth, thanks to CREDO members.
The trees were planted in partnership with Trees for the Future, a nonprofit organization that helps communities plant trees to restore life to degraded lands. Our June campaign focused on sub-Saharan Africa, where Trees for the Future’s Forest Garden Program helps African families plant fast-growing trees, fruit and nut trees, hardwoods and food crops together to transform overused and exhausted lands into forest gardens.
These gardens provide families with sustainable food sources, firewood, livestock feed, products to sell at market and a 400% increase in their annual income in only four years. They help people earn more money, grow more food and build a more sustainable future. They slow erosion, fix nitrogen in the soil, cool the land and boost biodiversity.
The trees that we—and you—helped plant are doing a lot of good. For that, we say thanks. Please stay tuned to learn about more CREDO campaigns for a greener planet in the months ahead. And if you’re not already a member, please consider joining us and the many other CREDO members who are making a difference every day.
Posted on July 5, 2017
CREDO Mobile announces Unlimited Data
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The only carrier fighting Trump is now Unlimited.
You asked, we answered. CREDO Mobile now offers an Unlimited Plan option. So surf all you want while still supporting the critical causes you care about.
Ready for Unlimited data? You can learn more and switch to the Unlimited Plan by logging into your Member Services account. Or give us a call at 1-888-264-6071.
An Unlimited plan is a great reason to consider adding a line too. Why not start early and plan for back to school with a Galaxy tablet? Check out the special offers available for additional lines when you log in to Member Services too.
Please note: If you do move to our Unlimited Plan, you will lose any data plan discounts and/or line fee discounts associated with your current plan.
Posted on July 2, 2017
Our June grantees thank you for your support
Each month, CREDO members vote for how we distribute our funding to three amazing organizations. In June, we funded organizations providing life-saving care across the globe, holding lawmakers and industry accountable for the climate crisis, and fighting for LGBTQ rights. Over 55,000 people voted to distribute our monthly donation to Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières, InsideClimate News and the National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund.
These donations are made possible by CREDO customers and the revenue they generate by using our services. The distribution depends entirely on the votes of CREDO members like you. And for that, our June grant recipients thank you.
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières
“Thank you CREDO and CREDO members for your critical support of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières. Your generosity is helping us provide life-saving medical care to people in urgent need around the world.” To learn more, visit doctorswithoutborders.org.
Posted on July 1, 2017
Vote for these three great causes in July
Each month, CREDO members help decide how we donate tens of thousands of dollars to three nonprofit groups fighting for progressive causes. This July, we’re doing something a little different. This month, you can vote for two great nonprofit organizations – the Center for Constitutional Rights and Social Security Works – and the “Whistleblower Special Defense Fund,” a special fund created by CREDO Mobile to provide funding for legal defense for whistleblowers who expose attacks on our democracy and communities. Learn more about each of these causes, and then cast your vote for one, two or all three by July 31.
Center for Constitutional Rights
For 50 years, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) has led the fight to defend and empower those with the fewest protections and least access to legal resources and strengthen movements for social justice.
With the daily attacks on the Constitution and our democracy by the Trump administration, funding from CREDO members is now more important than ever. A CREDO donation will help CCR stand up for social justice and civil and human rights, including fighting racial injustice, LGBTQ persecution and gender-based violence, abusive immigration practices, illegal government surveillance and much more.
Posted on June 27, 2017
New Video: Rainforest Action Network on Banks and Climate Change
Climate change is the single biggest threat to our planet, yet Donald Trump and his fossil fuel led administration continue to claim climate change is a hoax and jam through dirty energy projects like the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines. Fortunately, one of the strongest and most effective allies in the fight against Trump’s wholesale hand over of our country to the fossil fuel industry, Rainforest Action Network (RAN), is taking the administration and funders of these dirty fossil fuel pipelines head-on.
This June, CREDO was honored to host Lindsey Allen, RAN’s executive director, at our headquarters to discuss RAN’s response to the Trump administration and Wall Street’s assault on our planet.
Since 1988, CREDO members have voted to donate more than $1.2 million to RAN, and for nearly 30 years, CREDO has been a strong supporter of RAN’s work and partnered with the organization to challenge corporate power and defend the climate and human rights.
Posted on June 15, 2017
This Pride Month, we can’t allow Trump to turn back the clock
Every year at CREDO, we look forward to celebrating Pride Month with our LGBTQ friends and allies across the country, reflecting on all the progress we’ve made — including the anniversary this month of the Supreme Court’s historic ruling on marriage equality — and looking ahead to more victories for civil rights and equality.
But this year’s celebration is very different. Donald Trump and anti-LGBTQ zealot Mike Pence are leading a Republican Party notorious at the state and federal level for trying to roll back LGBTQ equality and discriminate against LGBTQ people. They have filled their administration with bigots and religious extremists and are refusing to even acknowledge Pride Month.
Since taking office, the Trump administration has taken steps to undo years, even decades, of progress. In just the last few months, Trump and his anti-LGBTQ administration have:
- Removed questions regarding sexual orientation from government-sponsored surveys
- Rolled back protections for transgender students
- Signed a so-called “religious freedom” executive order that will harm the LGBTQ community and could be used to discriminate against LGBTQ people
- Nominated a fervent anti-LGBTQ veteran to replace the first openly gay Army secretary
- Proposed a cruel and heartless budget that directly harms LGBTQ people
- Supported the “First Amendment Defense Act,” an expressly anti-LGBTQ bill
- Weakened protections for LGBTQ people who work for federal contractors
- Refused to take action to protect gay men being murdered in Chechnya
The assaults on the LGBTQ community are not only happening at the federal level. Extremists in state legislatures across the country have proposed more than 100 bills that directly single out LGBTQ people, including many that would give license to business owners to discriminate against the LGBTQ community.
At CREDO, one of the best ways we know how to celebrate Pride Month is by standing with our friends and allies in the LGBTQ community and speaking out. To us, that means taking action to defend LGBTQ rights whenever and however we can and doing everything we can to stop Trump and other right-wing fanatics at the federal, state and local level to turn back the clock on all our victories for equality and civil rights.
Here are two important ways you can join the fight this month in support of the LGBTQ community:
- Attend pride marches and equality protests. This month, thousands of pride marches will be taking place across the country, in Washington, D.C. and several local equality and pride marches across the country. (We have some great pride posters you can print and bring with you.)
- Speak out and take action. Call, write and visit your local and federal elected officials and urge them to support protections for LGBTQ people. Speak out when your lawmakers, local businesses or neighbors promote hate and discrimination. Sign our petition urging Congress to ban conversion therapy.
While Pride Month is a time to celebrate the LGBTQ community and reflect on how far we’ve come, the fight for equality and civil rights is far from over. CREDO will continue standing with the LGBTQ community every step of the way.
Posted on June 15, 2017
The Samsung Galaxy S8 is now available
The Galaxy S8 is creating a buzz in the mobile world. CNET called it “the most beautiful phone ever.” PC magazine said it’s “the best phone at nearly everything it does.” Wired said the S8 “feels like the future.”
Why all the excitement? Because the Galaxy S8 features an unprecedented array of technologies and innovations, most notably the stunning Infinity Display. The beautiful 5.8-inch HD display curves around the phone’s edges to fit an amazing amount of real estate into the palm of one hand. It’s large, yes, but it’s still easily navigable.
Other impressive S8 features include:
True water resistance. The S8 is built for spills and splashes. You can use it in the rain—or even in the shower.
Android Nougat. The latest Android OS, Nougat runs faster and makes multitasking easier.
Classic headphone jack. With the S8, you can use your favorite earphones.
Better selfie camera. The front-facing camera captures 8-megapixel photos with an f/1.7 lens and autofocus.
10nm processor. This next-generation processor launches apps faster and extends battery life.
The new Samsung Galaxy S8 is the most advanced smartphone to date. As CNET noted, the S8 “crushes it in performance, battery life, water-resistance and wireless charging.”
