References
(Work in Progress)
My Work
Tests of 988 Lifeline System
Handouts/Links
Information Requests
Formal Comments
Publications (pending)
References
Documentation (work in progress)
Papers
Articles
Videos
Podcasts
Flowers along the Pacific Crest Trail with Pahto on the horizon, Washington State.
Tests of the 988 System
Transcript of my test of the 988 Lifeline texting service. The transcript is redacted, the conversation took place during 2023.
Transcript of my test of New Mexico Crisis and Access Line voice service. NMCAL is operated by Protocall Services, Inc. under contract from the State of New Mexico. NMCAL is a member within the 988 Lifeline national network. The transcript is redacted, the conversation took place during 2023.
Handouts – Links
988 Lifeline – Changes Needed. May be duplicated and shared freely.
Crisis Line Call – Consent Directive. May be duplicated and shared freely. This is not a legal document and it’s unlikely to “do” anything other than document your wishes within “the system”. The document at the link is a sample template that you can use to express your wishes for consent protections. The focus is on data protections and unwanted police. A possible use is to save the link in your phone and then, if there ever is a need to text a crisis line, copy-paste the link directly into the text or chat. Short link here:
https://tinyurl.com/4sbmn5ak
Documentation
2020 at Crisis Text Line. I began as a trained volunteer in April. In June, a group of Crisis Text Line employees publicly exposed a toxic, racist work environment. This prompted me to begin researching Crisis Text Line, Inc. I quickly learned of Loris.ai, Inc. and began asking questions. Key documents from that time follow.
2020-06-01 Crisis Text Line – How We Contribute to Anti-Racism
2020-06-10 Anti-Racism Employees – Letter for Anti-Racism Action
2020-06-12 Anti-Racism Employees – Open Letter List of Grievances
2020-06-12 Crisis Text Line – Email Transmitting Letter from Board
2020-06-16 Executive Summaries of the Outreach Committee
2020-06-30 Second Executive Summaries of the Outreach Committee
2020-07-01 Crisis Text Line Bob Filbin – Responses to Data Questions Transmittal Email
2020-07-01 Crisis Text Line Bob Filbin – Responses to Data Questions
2020-07-02 Crisis Text Line – CC Town Hall Feedback Email
2020-07-14 Crisis Text Line – Public Statement Transmittal Email
2020-07-14 Crisis Text Line – Public Statement
2020-07-01 to 2020-09-28 – My Email Exchanges with Crisis Text Line
2021 at Crisis Text Line. I completed my one year, 200 hour commitment and continued working towards reform from within. My login credentials were pulled August 21, 2021 when I shared, with advance notice, my opinion paper requesting reforms.
2021-05-25 CTL Email to Me Requesting Meeting
2021-06-04 My Notes of First Video Conference with CTL General Counsel Shawn Rodriguez
2021-07-15 Second Video Conference Summary with CTL General Counsel Shawn Rodriguez
2021-08-09 Email to CTL Transmitting Advance Copy of Opinion Paper
2021-08-18 CTL Email Responding to Advance Copy of Opinion Paper
2021-08-21 My Email to my CTL Coach
2021-08-21 My Open Letter to CTL Transmitting Opinion Paper
2021-08-21 Opinion Paper
On August 21, 2021 I also posted the Open Letter and Opinion Paper at Crisis Text Line’s social network. I happened to receive an email from Crisis Text Line telling me I’d received feedback from someone I’d texted with. When I went to login to the platform to read the feedback, I was locked out. This was within two hours of my post on the social network.
2021-08-23 Email Reply from danah boyd
2021-08-24 My Response Email to CTL – danah boyd and Shawn Rodriguez
Crisis Text Line did not respond to my request for a formal notice of termination.
2022.
In July I sent an email to Crisis Text Line’s legal department asking whether they claimed they had consent from volunteers for use of crisis conversations as data and for research.
2022-07-13 Email to Crisis Text Line Legal – Question about Volunteer Consent
They never responded, but by October, for the first time, they added a Volunteer Terms of Service & Privacy Policy to their website.
In October I sent an email to Crisis Text Line asking whether they had disbanded their advisory boards.
2022-10-13 Email to Crisis Text Line Legal – Question about Advisory Boards
They never responded, but the advisory board member names had been removed by February 4, 2022–as shown in this page archive–though the existence of the boards was still implied. The last page archive showing advisory board members was dated February 1, 2022. For context, the POLITICO article which led to public criticism came out on January 28, 2022. On September 13, 2022 the first archive was made of the new Senior Leadership and Board of Directors page. By March 6, 2023 the Board and Advisors page returned a 404 error message: “This page does not exist”.
2023.
On January 2, 2023 I happened to take a screen shot of the board of director members from the Board and Advisors page. At that time danah boyd–a founding board member–was still listed.
2023-01-02 Screenshot – Portion of Board and Advisors Webpage
On January 5, 2023 the same webpage showed that danah boyd’s name had been removed. I archived the page.
2023-01-05 Archive of Board and Advisors Webpage
Requests for Information
2022 FOIA Request to FCC.
2022 FOIA Request to SAMHSA (Ongoing).
This request was filed August 15, 2022 and clarified December 14, 2022. The first response from SAMHSA was “After careful review, it has been determined that all records requested belong to Vibrant Emotional Health, the 988 Lifeline Administrator, a SAMHSA grantee. Therefore, SAMHSA does not have any federal records to provide for this request”. I appealed and it was remanded back to SAMHSA. Meanwhile, I went to Vibrant. Vibrant declined to provide the information I requested, referring me instead to their website.
2023-01-20 SAMHSA 1st Final Response to FOIA Request
2023-04-17 My 1st Appeal – Attachment 1 (my request) – Attachment 2 (official response) – Attachment 3 (email correspondence)
2023-04-20 SAMHSA Remand Letter for Further Processing
2023-05-12 My Seeking Understanding Emails to SAMHSA
2023-07-18 (delivered to me 2023-09-14) SAMHSA 2nd Final Response to FOIA Request
Documents Provided – File 1 – File 2 – File 3
2023-09-14 to 18 SAMHSA 2nd Final Response – Emails – Transmit Documents – Clarify Redactions
The documents provided were heavily redacted, did not address my full request, and I felt, were too limited. So I filed a 2nd appeal on October 18, 2023.
2023 2023-10-18 My 2nd Appeal – Attachment 1 – Attachment 2 – Attachment 3 – Attachment 4
2023-10-30 SAMHSA Letter – Acknowledge 2nd Appeal – 2nd Agency to Be Consulted
2023 Request to Vibrant Emotional Health.
2023-01-20 to 2023-03-21 Emails – Information Request to Vibrant
Formal Comments
2022-11-21 my comments to the FTC. Same comments at FTC site. My comments submitted to the US Federal Trade Commission in response to their proposed rule. Trade Regulation Rule on Commercial Surveillance and Data Security, Docket FTC-2022-0053.