KOKOBOT - The Airbnb-Owned Tech Startup - Data Mining Tumblr Users' Mental Health Crises For "Content"

KOKOBOT - The Airbnb-Owned Tech Startup - Data Mining Tumblr Users' Mental Health Crises for "Content"

I got this message from a bot, and honestly? If I was a bit younger and not such a jaded bitch with a career in tech, I might have given it an honest try. I spent plenty of time in a tough situation without access to any mental health resources as a teen, and would have been sucked right in.

Chatting right from your phone, and being connected with people who can help you? Sounds nice. Especially if you believe the testimonials they spam you with (tw suicide / self harm mention in below images)

But I was getting a weird feeling, so I went to read the legalese.

I couldn't even get through the fine-print it asked me to read and agree to, without it spamming the hell out of me. Almost like they expect people to just hit Yes? But I'm glad I stopped to read, because:

What you say on there won't be confidential. (And for context, I tried it out and the things people were looking for help with? I didn't even feel comfortable sharing here as examples, it was all so deeply personal and painful)

Also, what you say on there? Is now...

Koko's intellectual property - giving them the right to use it in any way they see fit, including

Publicly performing or displaying your "content" (also known as your mental health crisis) in any media format and in any media channel without limitation

Do this indefinitely after you end your account with them

Sell / share this "content" with other businesses

Any harm you come to using Koko? That's on you.

And Koko won't take responsibility for anything someone says to you on there (which is bleak when people are using it to spread Christianity to people in crisis)

I was curious about their business model. They're a venture-capitol based tech startup, owned by Airbnb, the famous mental health professionals with a focus on ethical business practices./s They're also begging for donations despite having already been given 2.5 million dollars in research funding. (If you want a deep dive on why people throw crazy money at tech startups, see my other post here)

They also use the data they gather from users to conduct research and publish papers. I didn't find them too interesting - other than as a good case study of "People tend to find what they are financially incentivized to find". Predictably, Koko found that Kokobot was beneficial to its users.

So yeah, being a dumbass with too much curiosity, I decided to use the Airbnb-owned Data-Mining Mental Health Chatline anyway. And if you thought it was dangerous sounding from the disclaimers? Somehow it got worse.

(trigger warning / discussions of child abuse / sexual abuse / suicide / violence below the cut - please don't read if you're not in a good place to hear about negligence around pretty horrific topics.)

I first messed around with the available options, but then I asked it about something obviously concerning, saying I had a gun and was going to shoot myself. It responded... Poorly. Imagine the vibes of trying to cancel Comcast, when you're suicidal.

Anyway, I tried again to ask for help about something else that would be concerning enough for any responsible company to flag. School was one of their main options, which seems irresponsible - do you really think a child in crisis would read that contract?

I told it about a teacher at school trying to "be my boyfriend", and it immediately suggested I help someone else while I wait for help. I was honestly concerned that it wasn't flagged before connecting. Especially when I realized it was connecting me to children.

I first got someone who seemed to be a child in an abusive home. (Censored for their privacy.) I declined to talk to them because despite being an adult and in an OK mental place - I knew I'm not equipped to counsel a kid through that. If my act of being another kid in crisis was real? Holy shit.

Remember- if my BS was true, that kid would be being "helped" by an actively suicidal kid who's also being groomed by a teacher. Their pipeline for "helpers" is the same group of people looking for help.

I skipped a number of messages, and they mostly seemed to be written by children and young adults with nowhere else to turn. Plus one scary one from an adult whose "problem" was worrying that they'd been inappropriate with a female student, asking her to pull her skirt down "a little" in front of the class. Koko paired this person with someone reporting that they were a child being groomed by a teacher. Extremely dangerous, and if this was an episode of Black Mirror? I'd say it was a little too on the nose to be believable.

I also didn't get the option to get help without being asked... Er... Harassed... to help others. If I declined, I'd get the next request for help, and the next. If I ignored it, I got spammed by the "We lost you there!" messages, asking if I'd like to pick up where I left off, seeing others' often triggering messages while waiting for help, including seriously homophobic shit. I was going into this as an experiment, starting from a good mental place, and being an adult with coping skills from an actual therapist, and I still felt triggered by a lot of what I read. I can't imagine the experience someone actually in crisis would be having.

My message was starting to feel mild in comparison to what some people were sharing - but despite that I was feeling very uneasy about my message being shown to children. There didn't seem to be a way to take it back either.

Then I got a reply about my issue. It was very kind and well meaning, but VERY horrifying. Because it seemed to be written by a child, or someone too young to understand that "Do have feelings for the teacher who's grooming you? If you don't, you should go talk to him." Is probably THE most dangerous advice possible.

Not judging the author - I get the impression they're probably a child seeking help themselves and honestly feel horribly guilty my BS got sent to a young person and they wanted to reply. Because WTF. No kid should be in that position to answer my fucked up question or any of the others like it.

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Anyway, what can you do if this concerns you, or you've had a difficult experience on Koko, with no support from them or Tumblr?

To reach Tumblr, who officially partners with Koko?

Send a message to Tumblr Support describing your concerns with their partnership with Kokobot

Report kokobot to Tumblr's abuse hotline describing your experience with KokoBot, especially if you are a minor who suffered harm, as they have a legal responsibility to address that.

To get Koko's attention:

Get on their LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/kokocares/) and comment on their posts! You may also want to tag the company's co-founders in your comments - their accounts are listed on the company page.

There's no way to reach support through chat, and commenting on a company's LinkedIn posts / tagging the people responsible is the best way to get a quick response to a sensitive issue - as their investors and research funders follow those posts, and companies take it seriously if safety issues are brought up in front of the people giving them millions of dollars.

Request support on Koko's Discord - FYI they will allow you to file a ticket privately, which the moderators say will reach the staff. But you may be muted or banned for trying to discuss concerns with Koko as a company or the safety of kokobot in the public channels, which also cuts you off from the ability to file a ticket.

To report it to the FCC for likely violating the COPPA law, regarding minors' safety and privacy online:

See Reblogs for further info & reporting instructions: Detailed description of COPPA law and Kokobot's presumed violations, plus detailed reporting instructions

But quick links: FCC reporting website and email hotline: CoppaHotLine@ftc.gov

Seriously, if you've taken the time to read this far, please please please take one more minute to file a report! It won't get addressed if all we do is reblog this, we need to get this in front of Tumblr Staff / The FCC / Koko's investors to get this meaningfully addressed.

Blocking and reporting the bot as spam isn't enough IMO - people have been doing that for years from the looks of the tag

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Reccomended reading in reblogs:

dropattackbear's discovery of what Koko is using the harvested data for (Machine Learning training data for automated content moderation services)

winderlylandchime (a licenced clinical psychologist's) explanation of privacy / ethics considerations around mental health services

thatsmimi's post on the dangers of letting minors act as a suicide / self-harm resource

My additions on their investors, leadership board, and their current job opening

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Legal Disclaimer since tech companies LOVE lawsuits:

The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to the author's employer, organization, committee or other group or individual. This text is for entertainment purposes only, and is not meant to be referenced for legal, business, or investment purposes. This text is based on publically available information. Sources may contain factual errors. The analysis provided in this text may contain factual errors, miscalculations, or misunderstandings.

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Okay we need to stop talking about dazai for a moment and start talking more about sigma (yes I know dazai death shock you but it isn't confirmed that he is dead yet and it maybe the same trick that asagiri pull in chapter 101)

Just look at this

HE SAID "this very may be the final decision I make in my life" CAUSE HE KNOW THAT WHEN HE TOUCH FYODOR HE WILL OR MAYBE DIE AND POOR BABY HAND WAS SHAKING TOO

AND THE WAY HE SAY HE NEED TO TELL THE AGENCY HE HASN'T OFFICIALLY JOIN THEM YET AND HE ALREADY SAY HE HAVE TO TELL THEM AHHHHHHHHHHH

we need to give more credit for sigma he is so precious

( asagiri you better let him join the agency after this)

This panel just this panel right here is making giggle and kick up my feet in the air

Like the way akutagawa slowly (gently?) lift atsushi up to him and the way that rashomon is wrap around his waist,his neck and his leg too is just AFKJDUBWIKONBS

THE SCENE IS SO FRUITY HELP

And akutagawa is just standing there looking at him and waiting damm that just making is more fruity like he is waiting to do something to atsushi

I don't know how to describe what am I feeling when seeing this scene

Did I mention how slu- I mean fine atsushi waist is

I was staring at this for long time

Can someone talk more about this

(Edit: I need someone to make an edit of this panel with lana del rey song it can be ultraviolence or any song, I just think this panel is good with lana song ok)

Do you remember when I say that why aya hallucination is similar in my reaction post well i found out why

Also here is the link to the reaction post if anyone wondering

Tumblr

imgonnabetheprettiestpersonintheparty

WARNING: BSD MANGA CHAP 109 SPOILER I just done a post about how bones did skkk so dirty have some sleep and then wake up to the new that c

Now take a look at this

This is aya experience hallucination or psychotic (I need someone explain to me more about this it is just simple hallucinate or ptsd hallucinate or it is more than that)

Then take a look at this

Seem familiar yes they are experiencing the same thing the mind making up the people that are close to them or their abuser, for atsushi he is getting healthier I guess he not hallucinate the headmaster anymore so that good but that doesn't mean this is still healthy and he hallucination is making up advice for him to encourage??(idk the word for it sorry) him to keep moving, for aya she is hallucinate her dad- her abuser yep that right he is giving her advice like atsushi hallucination does and she seems to not like it very much like how atsushi is to the hallucinate headmaster

Oh and the condition why the hallucinate started too atsushi is when he was stressed and don't know what to do, aya is stressed too because the world is literally ending right now and she have to come up with a quick plan

Overall maybe I just want a interaction with aya and atsushi ( they have a very small parallel and trauma-> that trauma is father issue)

Okay so I was minding my own business and this message came up and i was like who are you

I didn't touch it yet and I really don't know what to do

I did some search and found out it was very unethical

I was planning to blocked it or just letting it stay right there not replying to it and someone say that message "stop" will stop them from spamming too

I just don't know what is going on right now I was randomly minding my business and this came up

Me: *seeing the bsd fandom on tumblr broke because of chapter 109* "uh um wow you know what let go to twitter " (or X I just gonna call it twitter)

*10 minutes later*

Me : "well at least it not that bad they just being delulu here what about tiktok is not that bad right".

*a moment later*

Me: " I take it back don't go on tiktok they worse"