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Episode 3: How Uber is Working to Stop Human Trafficking (Part 2/2)
116 Plays1 year ago
Our special series with Uber concludes with Part 2 of our conversation with Danielle McDonald, Kate Birks, and Elise Maiolino from Uber’s Safety Team.
You’ll hear some of the cases that have come about after Uber implemented new safety protocols aimed at stopping human trafficking.
To learn more about the Florida Alliance To End Human Trafficking or to become an educated member of society to fight human trafficking, please visit our website: https://floridaallianceendht.com/
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast
00:00:06
Speaker
Welcome back. This is another podcast from the Florida Alliance to End Human Trafficking. I'm Erin Collins. It's executive director. Today, my co-host is Alan Wilkett, retired corporal with the Pasco County Sheriff's Office and board member of the Florida Alliance. Hi, Alan. Thanks for joining us again.
00:00:22
Speaker
What a pleasure it is to be here again to hear the amazing things that are being done to end human trafficking in the state
Uber's Initiative Against Human Trafficking
00:00:29
Speaker
of Florida. Here we're getting ready to jump into part two of this interview. Erin, what are we going to hear about and what are we going to learn from Uber in this part two? Yeah, in part two of my conversation with the ladies from Uber's public safety team,
00:00:42
Speaker
We'll learn more about the education and awareness that they're providing to their drivers, which has made dividends and various results in local cases here in the state of Florida.
00:00:56
Speaker
Joining us today are safety leaders from Uber, Danielle McDonald, Public Safety Liaison Manager for the United States Southeast, Kate Burks, Lead Technical Investigator on the Global Investigations Team, and Elise Maiolino, the Global Head of Women's Safety Policy.
00:01:16
Speaker
Well, Elise, as we know, human trafficking is an issue that faces the transportation and a lot of various industries globally. What is Uber's approach to addressing this important social issue?
Educational Efforts and Partnerships
00:01:27
Speaker
Thanks so much for that question.
00:01:29
Speaker
Human trafficking is a global issue that impacts every community. And at Uber, we recognize that combating human trafficking is going to require sustained commitments from many sectors. So we are happy to do our part, whether that be continuing to raise awareness about this crime or providing ongoing educational opportunities for drivers,
00:01:54
Speaker
We want to be part of that solution. And so we leverage our scale and have done so for quite some time in the US, in Latin America, to educate users on human trafficking, how it might present, how they can report suspicious activity or reach out for help. We've had the privilege of partnering with experts on national and a global scale, experts like Polaris and Expat,
00:02:23
Speaker
who have worked diligently in their communities to end human trafficking. And in partnership with these advocate experts, we've developed tailored educational materials
00:02:35
Speaker
that we make available to drivers and delivery people in our work. So they can access important educational materials at our green light hubs, directly through in-app messaging and in email, and even on our web pages. We've also hosted in-person education sessions in local communities, and we've made this education available to writers as well.
00:03:01
Speaker
In all of our anti-trafficking materials, we encourage users to report potential tips of human trafficking to their respective national human trafficking hotlines. And we've learned that from anti-trafficking advocates that a country's national hotline is often the best option for reporting suspected tips of human trafficking. For example, in the U.S., we encourage users to report suspected human trafficking to the national human trafficking hotline.
00:03:30
Speaker
And this hotline provides a single place, regardless of jurisdiction, where it's an easy place to go, a centralized resource. And so for us, sending messages, sending this message to our users, millions of them, that they can contact the National Hotline for support is really important.
00:03:52
Speaker
Uber also thinks that the National Hotline is a really good place to kind of centralize data collection and reporting efforts and to give clarity to kind of the scale and the scope
00:04:03
Speaker
of this problem. I think what you said is so important about the proactive work that you do with regards to resources because people want to learn about an issue. We all know that we can't solve a problem if we don't know it exists. And having information that you all distribute, not only to drivers, but riders, but partners globally and in the state of Florida here,
00:04:30
Speaker
is so important. Law enforcement and service providers rely so heavily on folks throughout the community. And your drivers and riders are everywhere. So it's great that you all are taking such a proactive approach with regards to educating the community. And we'll get into a little bit that more later.
00:04:50
Speaker
This next question is for you, Danielle. Describe the type of education that you all make available to drivers. How long has it been provided to them? And can you tell us about the program? Yeah, of course,
Driver Education and Real-Life Impact
00:05:03
Speaker
Erin. Thank you. So Uber has been educating drivers for years now. And as Elise mentioned, some of the ways that we do that are through our in-person driver education sessions.
00:05:15
Speaker
So we really rely heavily on our partners in this space. So partners like Polaris and law enforcement and other nonprofit organizations to help us with that education. And so prior to the pandemic, we were able to do a lot of that in person. Obviously, when the pandemic rolled around, like a lot of people, we had to kind of shift our strategy a little bit. And the option of doing in-person
00:05:43
Speaker
wasn't really available at that time. And so what Uber did is we recognized the importance of continuing to educate drivers. So we partnered with Polaris to develop an educational video that we now continuously push out to drivers so that they can review that and review the safety tips and how to report human trafficking.
00:06:08
Speaker
In addition to our education sessions, we've also created a human trafficking landing page that sits on Uber's website. So this is where drivers in the community can go to to review a lot of the education materials that are available.
00:06:25
Speaker
to see some of the safety tips that are provided by our partners in this space to learn about how can I report things that I might be seeing. So providing that human trafficking hotline number that Elise mentioned. And so those are some of the examples on how we are continuing to provide those types of education to our drivers.
00:06:49
Speaker
Can we dig a little bit more specifically to Florida? What type of education has provided to drivers here in the state? So for Florida, as the liaison for the US Southeast, I do cover Florida and I am the point of contact for all the law enforcement agencies there in Florida. And in part of that is working with my teammates here that are on with us, but also working with our partners in that space in Florida, such as the attorney general's office,
00:07:19
Speaker
We've also partnered with nonprofit organizations in Florida, such as International Rescue Committee, as well as It's a Penalty. And what we did in Florida specifically is ahead of the 2020 Super Bowl in Miami, we worked with our partners. It's a penalty, Polaris, the Attorney General's office, and we provided in-person education sessions
00:07:44
Speaker
both in English and Spanish ahead of the Super Bowl in three counties, in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties to educate drivers on what does human trafficking look like? What are some of the signs? How can I report it?
00:08:00
Speaker
So in addition to doing that in Florida, we also worked with the Attorney General's office to help distribute those educational materials to what we call our green light hubs in Florida. And what green light hubs are, are they are locations that drivers can go into to receive support from Uber. So if they go into those green light hub office spaces in Florida, they're able to get those education materials as well.
00:08:30
Speaker
Following up on the education that has been provided to the drivers, how has it been received here in Florida? Yeah, so the drivers find the education valuable. For example, we had a driver who, after reviewing some of the education materials that was provided to the driver, they had recognized some of those signs.
00:08:55
Speaker
of potential human trafficking, and we're able to notify the police to hopefully get the young woman that was in the vehicle to safety. So the important thing to note in regards to the education for drivers is that drivers are part of our communities. And so as being part of those communities, they also want to make sure that they are helping keep their communities safe.
00:09:20
Speaker
Most definitely, and again, as we've talked about already, and the focus of the Florida Alliance to End Team and Trafficking is to increase that awareness statewide. There's so many different ways how citizens can learn about the topic through facts, non myths, and be able to share that information with their various networks. So I agree. Elise, why is it important for Uber to educate its drivers on this topic?
00:09:46
Speaker
Drivers are the eyes and the ears on the ground. They may hear something like a concerning conversation. They might witness something that seems suspicious or unusual. A victim might tell them that they need help. So it's really important for drivers to be able to recognize the signs and to know what to do if they suspect human trafficking.
00:10:13
Speaker
And sometimes that means calling 911 in an emergency and if they need help immediately. And sometimes that means calling the National Human Trafficking hotline. And so we think it's really important for them to have these resources, these tips, this educational material available.
00:10:30
Speaker
so that they're supported in their work. Now, Danielle, you mentioned it a little bit earlier about the work that you did with partners prior to the Super Bowl in Miami a few years back. How does Uber educate the public about safety prior to some of these large-scale events? That's a good question. And our work in this space is continuous. So my team, for example, our global public safety team,
00:10:54
Speaker
We work with educating law enforcement and it may be ahead of a large scale event or just in general on how they can come to us to get information to assist with potential investigations. And so we will work on educating law enforcement on our 24 seven portal.
00:11:12
Speaker
that's available to them to submit requests such as emergency requests or requests for information while ensuring that we're also complying with our user privacy guidelines. And so other things that we have worked on is also providing education during conferences or participating in panel discussions. So for example, a couple of months ago, I had the opportunity to attend the North Carolina Human Trafficking Commission
00:11:41
Speaker
where I sat on a panel discussion with our partners in this space, Airbnb Polaris, and we had a discussion around innovation and partnership to prevent human trafficking.
00:11:55
Speaker
So those are some of the examples where we continue to do that education. We will also work with sometimes, you know, cities and law enforcement on providing safety partnerships where we'll share safety tips on Rideshare. You know, we previously did that this year with Fort Lauderdale. I had a spring break where we were sharing our safety tips and Rideshare as well.
00:12:21
Speaker
Thank you, Danielle. I want to bring Kate into the conversation. Kate, do you think the emphasis on driver education has led to increased tips to human trafficking awareness hotlines? That's a really good question. Although it's hard to measure the impact our education has had in the fight against human trafficking, we have had several cases where a driver has reported a possible human trafficking incident to Uber directly.
00:12:48
Speaker
We've then been able to investigate and build enough of a case to work with law enforcement on the investigation. So if these kind of tips can help with one criminal investigation or helping one survivor, then the driver education has made a difference.
00:13:04
Speaker
I do believe these kind of tips can be directly attributed to the awareness education sessions outlined by both Elise and Danielle. Wow, that's great. So I want to transition from education to the investigation.
Collaboration with Law Enforcement
00:13:18
Speaker
Uber has a public safety and global investigations team. Danielle and Kate, do you mind explaining more about what those teams do? Yeah, sure, Erin. So as I mentioned, Uber's global public safety team, we work with
00:13:34
Speaker
law enforcement to tell them how they can acquire information to support their investigations. So part of our global public safety team is comprised of liaisons like myself, who all come from a former law enforcement background. And so what we do is we work on educating law enforcement on what kind of information they can request. How do they request that information?
00:14:00
Speaker
And we're really the direct point of contact for them on their investigations to make sure that they're submitting the proper legal process that they need, or if it's an emergency request, how we can work with them on emergency requests, and making sure that they are getting what they need to support their investigations.
00:14:21
Speaker
So I'm on the global investigations team and we sit alongside Danielle's team, the public safety team. We're also made up of many people with law enforcement backgrounds who specialize in investigations across a number of crime types. So we use the unique data sets that Uber has to proactively look for criminal activity on the platform. So we look for things from indicators of fraud all the way through to reports of possible human trafficking.
00:14:51
Speaker
We also use open source intelligence and our professional networks to keep an eye on potential indicators or trends in criminal activity that may be applicable to the Uber platforms. If we then find sufficient evidence during an investigation, we can proactively refer that matter to law enforcement.
00:15:12
Speaker
and then continue to assist as they conduct their investigation often in conjunction with Danielle's team, Public Safety. Wow. Kate, a follow-up question on how Uber works with law enforcement. Why has Uber made the decision to help and to work with law enforcement on these types of cases?
00:15:30
Speaker
Basically because it's the right thing to do. We're one of the few technology companies that physically operates in communities across the globe connecting people in the real world. We want to make sure we're good citizens and are doing our part to keep our platform and all the communities we operate in safe.
00:15:50
Speaker
Are there any recent success stories, Kate, that you're able to discuss where Uber was able to help in the case of human trafficking? Yeah. We recently had a human trafficking investigation out of Washington state. We noticed that the same agent was making multiple requests for data over a period of time. So we started to look at some various suspicious accounts and noticed that while there were many different account holders involved,
00:16:19
Speaker
They were all operating in a similar manner. So we reached out to the investigator to learn more about the scope and the current status of the investigation to see how we could help them connect the dots. We noticed that all the trips were starting in the same specific area.
00:16:39
Speaker
And the investigators told us they needed to know when the suspect was requesting a ride and where they were requesting the ride from in order to stop this particular people smuggling operation. Because of the unique location of where this was happening, which was an extremely remote area, we were able to set up alerting that notified our team when a pickup was scheduled in that area.
00:17:03
Speaker
This alert helped us protect drivers by cancelling trips to that area where the criminal activity was occurring, while simultaneously we were able to share that pickup information with the investigators who arrived on scene and stopped the smuggling operation.
00:17:18
Speaker
ending up by rescuing seven victims. Wow, that is incredible. Yeah. Kate, how did it make you feel to be able to be a part of saving and identify and saving those seven people and helping investigators arrest the person responsible? It was great to be able to assist law enforcement and get such a good outcome that helped keep our community safe.
00:17:45
Speaker
It's also amazing to be able to help rescue seven people from being trafficked. As Elise pointed out, human trafficking and people smuggling are global issues that impact every community. So we're working hard to do our part in preventing people from being trafficked and to stop those doing the trafficking. But there is much more work to be done, as you know.
00:18:07
Speaker
Well, as you have mentioned, you know, Uber behind the scenes is working with law enforcement on an ongoing basis, both here in the state of Florida and globally. Danielle, I know that you were able to help with the child exploitation case out of Palm Bay. Can you tell us more about that case and how Uber was able to help? Sure. Yes, it was a detective that had attended one of our trainings or our education
00:18:34
Speaker
sessions previously, and she was familiar with how to request information from us using our portal. And so in this particular case, Palm Bay was investigating a missing teen, and she had been missing for a couple weeks.
00:18:54
Speaker
They didn't really have any additional leads that they could go on to try and locate her. So utilizing the information that we had provided as part of that education to law enforcement, the detective was able to submit an emergency request through our portal. And within an hour, we were able to provide information on potential locations of where that missing teen was. And so the information that they were receiving on their end, on law enforcement's end,
00:19:26
Speaker
supported that the teen was potentially being sexually exploited online. So when they received the information back from us after submitting that emergency request, they were able to go where they believe that location was and safely recover the teen at that point.
00:19:45
Speaker
Elise, as you know, the potential signs and indicators of human trafficking can come in a variety of characteristics, both physical and behavioral. Can you talk a little about some of those? Absolutely. Thank you for that.
00:20:00
Speaker
So we try to work with our experts, we've tried to work with our expert partners to kind of point out some of the possible signs that drivers might see or possible signs that the drivers might hear while they are using our platform. So I can give you a couple of examples.
00:20:20
Speaker
of some indicators suggested by one of our partners, Ecpat USA, on how to spot human trafficking. So for instance, a possible sign that a driver might hear is requesting to be dropped off at a hidden entrance. So a rider or a customer who specifically asks to be dropped off or to receive food at a discrete entrance
00:20:41
Speaker
could potentially be a victim of trafficking. In a different vein, they might insist on cash payments. So someone could insist on paying in cash from a large stack of bills or with a prepaid credit card. So these could potentially be signs of human trafficking as well. So those are things that sometimes the driver might hear.
Identifying and Reporting Indicators
00:21:02
Speaker
Similarly, there are signs that the driver might see. These could be things like emotional abuse and distress. So it might be a sign of human trafficking.
00:21:10
Speaker
if a person seems to be disoriented or lost, if they're fearful of a situation, or if a person acts controlling over another person who's often unable to move or speak freely. And so I think these are some of the potential indicators, but I do think it's important to know that encountering any one of these indicators individually
00:21:33
Speaker
isn't necessarily proof of human trafficking, and it should be considered alongside some of these other signs as well. So that's one of the reasons we think it's so important in the event that drivers are seeing something that they're not sure of or not sure what to do. Calling the National Human Trafficking Line can be really useful, especially if folks can kind of put multiple signs together, even if the drivers have only one part of
00:22:01
Speaker
of a potential case or one, I guess, one element of a potential case in their experience. Yeah, those are great reminders. Danielle and Kate, from your perspective, how do you use some of those indicators or signs to inform drivers from a public safety perspective? Sure. So, you know, one of the things, Erin, that you touched on previously that I thought was very important is
00:22:30
Speaker
you were talking about and you mentioned kind of the whole bringing the community together and the collaborative effort in terms of how the Florida Alliance and how Florida in general is approaching how are we going to combat human trafficking and I think
00:22:44
Speaker
One of the things that is important to note is that it is a collaborative effort, right? So when we're talking about human trafficking, as Elise mentioned, we rely on our partners in this space to provide what are some of those safety tips, what are some of the signs and indicators, how to report it. But those partners come from
00:23:07
Speaker
all different kinds of backgrounds. So whether we're looking at healthcare providers, whether we're looking at prosecutor's offices, whether we're looking at law enforcement or survivors, we pull from all different sources to look at and think about, okay, what are some of those signs? And collectively in totality, is that an indicator of potential human trafficking? For the global public safety team,
00:23:34
Speaker
And I don't want to speak on behalf of Kate's team, but because we do work closely together, we look for law enforcement to give us those indicators because we work with law enforcement on their investigation. So at that point, once it's gotten to
00:23:54
Speaker
a law enforcement agency and for a detective or an officer or agent to look at, then there is something there that has already been identified, which is a little bit different from the other component of where we will educate our drivers and where we will be receiving information that may be reported from drivers and riders.
00:24:20
Speaker
Our team works on those reports that come from law enforcement where they've talked to a victim, where they've talked to a witness, or in some sort of their investigation, they've been able to identify there may be potentially human trafficking that's occurring. And that's how we receive the information from our side. And so from there, that's where we will say, okay, do we need to look a little bit further into
00:24:49
Speaker
the data or the information on our side and then comply with whatever it is that law enforcement is requesting to support them. Just to build on what Danielle said. So we obviously do use those sort of law enforcement requests as the key starting point. The only thing my team global investigations would do differently is we sometimes also use a driver contacting Uber directly through the app as another starting point for an investigation.
00:25:19
Speaker
So and that comes back to that education piece where drivers are told what to look for and then they as a lease outlined and then they might write in through the app to say they saw one of those indicators of human trafficking that then we can review and see if there's perhaps more to it or if there is a law enforcement request that matches that same sort of data point and then we can start an investigation from there.
00:25:49
Speaker
Yeah, and I think if I can jump back in on this, Erin, I think this question alone is a really, really good illustration on how you can't come at human trafficking and trying to prevent human trafficking from only one angle, right?
The Power of Collaboration
00:26:15
Speaker
an effort from all different types of practices. And everybody, you know, coming to the table and bringing their expertise and their knowledge and sharing that across the board, you know, is really how I think, you know, Florida and, you know, the US and just globally, how we can really kind of try and make that headway on combating human trafficking.
00:26:40
Speaker
Yeah, I couldn't agree more with both you, Danielle and Kate. The main goal of the Florida Alliance is to bring in different folks with different backgrounds, corporate, local government, private. Obviously we cannot do the educational and the training work without partners in law enforcement and service providers, but you're exactly right. The collaboration is key. Law enforcement,
00:27:06
Speaker
doesn't know to investigate if they don't have tips called in, whether anonymously to the National Human Trafficking Hotline and or 911. It's so important. And the law enforcement folks that we work with, and I'm sure Danielle and Kate, you both would agree,
00:27:29
Speaker
people sometimes don't want to get involved because they don't want to listen to their gut instinct. You know, they might kind of talk themselves out of something where it's, oh, I didn't see what I thought I did. And it's probably nothing. But I'm sure law enforcement and I know law enforcement wants those tips, even if it's nothing, because on the other side, what if
00:27:49
Speaker
you potentially prevented something from going on even further or stop something right in its tracks. And it's so, so important for folks to call the hotline. And if you think someone is in immediate danger, calling 911, law enforcement can't do the important work that it does without people in the community. So I think it's so, so important, as you mentioned, Danielle, about that collaboration.
00:28:15
Speaker
Wow, thank you so much, ladies, to Kate, to Elise and Danielle for joining me today. I learned a tremendous amount about the proactive work that Uber is doing, not only before large-scale events in the state of Florida, but continually year-round to educate the drivers, its riders, and also the work that you do with community partners throughout the year. I think it's so important. Thank you. Thank you.
00:28:45
Speaker
I am so grateful for the extensive time that these ladies spent chatting with me about what Uber is doing to train its drivers, which, again, Alan, as we learn, resulted in an arrest in Palm Bay. Some of the interesting things that I found, not only as someone who uses ridechairs, but from an awareness perspective, were some of the reminders that they talked about in proactively
00:29:15
Speaker
training their drivers, the things to spot. So if a rider wants to only pay cash and not use the app, going to the same location on a consistent or repeated basis at a certain time of day, obviously if it's at night and an unusual
00:29:33
Speaker
or maybe suspicious location. Some of those, maybe if you're going to an area of town that maybe isn't driven a lot or the back of a building. As a law enforcement officer, I'm sure you've heard some of these examples many, many a time. But for me, it was very eye-opening. And it just shows that the different ways industries are training its personnel
00:30:01
Speaker
What did you take away from some of those great examples that the lady shared with us? Well, first of all, amazing. But secondly, I brought back a lot of memories, memories of working cases, of actually doing the street work. I remember a particular case that we worked here locally that centered around a taxi driver. In this particular case, the taxi driver was part of the criminal enterprise. So he was somebody that we were looking at from an investigative standpoint.
00:30:31
Speaker
who was involved in that criminal enterprise of human trafficking, a local case. But what I did hear from Uber was not just the capability, but the opportunity, the opportunity to disrupt the flow of human trafficking in one of its critical pain points, and that is the transportation, the transportation side. So that ride sharing industry, and what I've found to be
00:30:58
Speaker
refreshing about this particular interview was how that uber who is in a business.
00:31:04
Speaker
The business is about making money, about turning a profit, but how they've also prioritized the well-being of individuals and people. That's an amazing example. I think every business can take away from that how you can weave in the concern and that societal oversight as well and that societal concern and still make money and still be in the business of profiting.
00:31:28
Speaker
but also understanding the value that we place on that individual as well so it was an amazing interview the great work but i find it to be also directional and exemplary of how other business can get involved and the value of that as well.
00:31:45
Speaker
Well, and to that point, there are businesses that might view law enforcement or first responders from a certain lens based on their personal interactions with law enforcement over time, maybe as an individual, growing up as a business owner, and that Uber has taken the proactive approach
00:32:09
Speaker
to put the emphasis on really starting these collaborations and opening the door to law enforcement is just so important. Is that typical? Because I thought it was pretty interesting where, again, to your point, this is a company that is looking to make a profit, but yet they also, as a corporate steward, need to protect the community as well.
00:32:36
Speaker
And I think you said it very well when you said that, to be a corporate steward as well. To have a concern for society and individuals speaks well to not just their business model, but their model as a corporation.
Corporate Responsibility and Community Engagement
00:32:52
Speaker
Not just the money making side, but the caring of individual side. And I think that that's something that
00:32:58
Speaker
is uniquely positioned and I think it's something that's exemplary and I wish more businesses would do that and we do have some great corporations who are doing tremendous work and we've talked about it before the 100% Club that's here in Florida where our Attorney General has started an initiative and kind of challenging businesses and corporations and organizations and entities to
00:33:20
Speaker
to challenge their employees, 100% of their employees to be trained. What an example that Uber is setting kind of in that space as well as somebody who said, yes, we're in this as a business, but our business really is people. And if people are not taken care of, then what good is our business?
00:33:37
Speaker
And I agree and it can't be said enough that it is incumbent upon everyone, not just law enforcement and service providers and those first responders, but to everyone in the community and business owners to help the state and these individuals raise the level of awareness to ultimately end human trafficking. Alan, I want to thank you for serving as my co-host today. This has been another podcast episode from the Florida Alliance to End Human Trafficking.
00:34:11
Speaker
you