Our Commitment to Privacy

Desifacts.org and WhatsTrue Crew are committed to being a repository of factual information for South Asian American communities. As part of our program, WhatsTrue Crew volunteers help monitor WhatsApp groups for significant issues, viral content, and concerns among South Asian Americans. Some of this work might include sharing potentially sensitive information with us. We value and respect your privacy, and understand what concerns may arise from our work. 

The following document clarifies what information we collect and how we use it, our commitment to your privacy and security, and your opt-in/opt-out options. 

WhatsTrue Crew:

Our WhatsTrue Crew consists of volunteers from across the country dedicated to helping us monitor WhatsApp channels for potentially harmful information and distribute resources and content from Desifacts.org. 

  1. All conversations within WhatsTrue Crew group chats on WhatsApp are confidential and will not be shared anywhere outside of the chats and scope of the program. 

  2. The only items that will be shared are videos, articles, or other content with questionable information. 

  3. All content that is shared or saved anywhere outside of the chats will be anonymized to protect the privacy of the sharer. 

Our WhatsTrue Crew members must also abide by our Community Guidelines, which include a commitment to confidentiality from all members. 

Desifacts WhatsApp Tipline:

The Desifacts tipline functions as a hotline for community members to ask questions, share questionable content, and receive accurate, fact-checked information quickly. 

  1. All content - including chats and questions - shared through the tipline will be kept confidential and not stored anywhere outside of Checkmedia.org (the backend of the tipline and a product of Meedan).

  2. Shared content might potentially be used for a Desifacts.org article. No information regarding the sharer is made public - we focus on the claims being shared with us (for example, images and messages on “cures for COVID”). 

The Tipline is built in partnership with Meedan, a global technology not-for-profit that builds software and programmatic initiatives to strengthen journalism, digital literacy, and accessibility of information online and off. Read more about Meedan’s approach to privacy here. 

Rutgers University/University of Austin WhatsApp Monitor:

Researchers at Rutgers University and the University of Texas, Austin, have collaborated together to create an autonomous digital program, or bot, to scan WhatsApp conversations for potentially harmful content aimed at South Asian communities (such as supposed “cures for COVID-19”). The bot account clearly indicates that it is a bot in the account profile and needs to be manually added to any WhatsApp group before it can scan for content. 

Process: 

  1. Content is extracted from these groups and anonymized (meaning removed of any personal information that can be traced such as phone numbers) before being sent to a secure cloud server. 

  2. The researchers will process and aggregate the content and identify images, videos, messages, etc. that are shared across multiple groups. 

  3. This “viral” content will then be shared on a secure WhatsApp monitor dashboard with participating not-for-profit organizations such as Indian American Impact Project. 

All other non-viral content will be deleted. 

  1. No personal information, like phone numbers or personal chats present in only a few groups, will ever be displayed or released anywhere.

  2. If groups identify as sensitive, the researchers will anonymize information to make sure it is not visible.

Again, we value your privacy. If you have any questions or concerns about the bot, please feel free to reach out to Aishika Jennela, Program Manager, at aishika@iaimpact.org, who can connect you with the researchers to learn more about the bot. 

Desifacts Contact Form:

Have questions about Desifacts.org fact-checking or anything you’re dying to ask us? Reach out via our Contact Us form! 

Any and all personal information submitted through the Contact Us form is kept private. We may reach out to you to answer any questions, provide more information regarding our volunteer programs, or ask for additional context. 


If you have any questions or concerns about privacy and our program, please contact Aishika Jennela at aishika@iaimpact.org.