2021
Annual
Report
More than the sum of our parts
To Our Supporters
Your 7-year-old walks to school, and you want to know when she gets to her second-grade classroom. Your newly minted teen driver is testing the real meaning of speed limits, and you want to be able to put the brakes on risky behavior. You rely on a convenient app like Life360 for its location tracking and driving safety features to protect what matters most to you. And Life360 turns around and sells your family’s private information to the highest bidder.
But, thanks to you, The Markup’s young nonprofit newsroom—an incredible collection of journalists, programmers, technologists, engineers, analysts, and editors—is shedding light on how your data, and your life, are being monetized. We are chipping away atthe chokehold of Big Tech with meticulous analyses of massive datasets that allow us to reveal the hidden biases and flaws of the algorithms that govern our lives. We’ve managed to produce a stunning array of investigative journalism and create one-of-a-kind tools to give you control over your digital life. Pretty impressive for a lean team in our second year of publishing.
At The Markup, we use our in-house expertise to help you understand the world around you. Our work isn’t designed to get clicks. It’s designed to have impact. Did we hold powerful institutions accountable for their decisions? Did our investigations help policymakers and individuals make better choices and give them the evidence they needed to create change?
In 2021, the answer to all of the above was “Absolutely.” After our exposé on Life360, the app announced it would stop selling its users’ raw location data. And that wasn’t all that our journalism changed. The following report brings the impact of our work to life in greater focus.
As a nonprofit, our work is funded only by those who are as committed to our mission as we are, and we are proud to be accountable to our supporters. We are committed to providing you with the transparency that we ourselves seek, because this calculus—tech expertise + engineering + investigative reporting—doesn’t add up without you.
Thank you for being part of The Markup as we work to bring agency to readers navigating their lives in the digital age. We need your continued support to uncover the ways that technology is affecting our lives, our communities, and our work. We’re beyond grateful that you were part of The Markup’s story in 2021, and we can’t wait for you to see what we’ve got in the works in the coming year.
The Markup
The Markup
From the Board
Chairing the board of a startup organization is a bit like helping a baby bird venture out of the nest: thrilling, nerve-racking, and pride- inducing. And what a joy it has been to watch The Markup fly in its second year!
As we look back on 2021, I’m energized by the impact The Markup’s work has had, which you’ll see detailed in this report, and by the growth this extraordinary organization has experienced. Our journalism, our tools, and our team have all evolved as our work has reached the halls of Congress, boardrooms across the world, and the lives of ordinary families. The Markup not only exposes how technology shapes our world but also outlines how we each can take action, providing a sense of agency in an increasingly uncertain world.
The Markup’s Board of Directors, like its staff, is a collection of journalists, technologists, educators, and entrepreneurs, bound together by the belief that empowering people through technology will lead to a better society for us all. I’m immensely proud of each and every person who has shared their energy and expertise with The Markup and grateful to donors like you who have made it a philanthropic priority.
Thank you for being part of The Markup’s young life. I hope you will continue to support us as we grow.
The Markup
Financials
FOR THE PERIOD 1/1/2021 - 12/31/2021
Revenues
- Grants $6,708,632
- Small Dollar Donations $120,971
- Total $6,829,603
Expenses
- Newsroom salaries and benefits $2,769,514
- Non-newsroom salaries and benefits $1,368,219
- Office and operations $1,407,149
- Total $5,544,882
A Year of Impact
Rather than chasing clicks, we’re chasing a better future. We published 109 articles this year; here’s a sampling of the impact we had.
Tenants’ Rights
Our 2020 Locked Out investigation into the effects of tenant screening algorithms led to questions from senators throughout 2021 and a recommendation from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that the screening agencies correct the error-prone practice.
Race and Algorithms
Texas A&M University dropped “race” from its student risk algorithm after a Markup investigation revealed that Black students were being steered away from math and science majors because an algorithm predicted they had a higher risk of failure than White students.
DISCRIMINATORY MORTGAGES
The U.S. Department of Justice, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and other agencies announced a new initiative to combat discriminatory mortgage lending practices, citing our investigation into home loan application approval rates as evidence of a nationwide problem.
PRODUCT PREFERENCING
Members of Congress asked Amazon to respond to our investigation about the platform giving its private label brands a leg up—and we built an Amazon Brand Detector tool to make it easier for you to understand how this affects your own shopping.
GOOGLE THE GIANT
The House Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law introduced The American Choice and Innovation Online Act to prohibit certain large tech platforms from favoring their own products and services on their platforms (including in search results), citing The Markup’s 2020 Google the Giant investigation.
YouTube Diversity
Color of Change cited our investigation into YouTube ad placements when calling on the platform’s parent company, Google, to perform an internal racial equity audit.
ACCESS TO GUNS
Etsy removed gun parts and accessories, including high-capacity magazines, from its online marketplace after being alerted to these listings by The Markup.
Civil Rights Violations
Facebook pledged to remove credit card ads targeted by age—a violation of its own policies and, potentially, civil rights laws—after The Markup discovered companies were targeting financial services to specific age groups on the platform.
WORKING FOR AN ALGORITHM
In a win for gig workers who answer to algorithms, Postmates reimbursed couriers who were victims of a phishing scam after we reported on the issue.
Facebook Accountability
Findings from our Citizen Browser project led Facebook to repeatedly admit mistakes and change its practices. Senators Markey and Hirono also called on Facebook to uphold its own promises and policies.
KIDS’ DATA FOR SALE
We revealed that the popular family safety app Life360 was selling data on kids’ and families’ whereabouts to approximately a dozen data brokers who sell location data to virtually anyone who wants to buy it. After our reporting, the company said it would get out of the business of selling raw location data.
WATCH THE SHORT VIDEO TO PREVENT YOUR FAMILY’S DATA FROM BEING SOLD.
Our innovative approach is attracting notice! A few of our accolades in 2021:
- The Electronic Privacy Information Center’s CHAMPION OF FREEDOM AWARD for safeguarding the right of privacy and protecting democratic values.
- GERALD LOEB AWARDS for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism (finalist, two categories)
- University of Michigan’s distinguished KNIGHT-WALLACE REPORTING FELLOWSHIP: Investigative Data Journalist Surya Mattu
- REAL WORLD IMPACT: Peers across the tech press took our lead and adopted the policy of not allowing corporate spokespeople to go “on background” in an attempt to shirk accountability.
OUR SECRET SAUCE: The Tools
Part of The Markup’s secret sauce is our proprietary tools— engineering marvels that allow us to persistently monitor Big Tech in ways that no other organization has been able to accomplish. We believe—and we’ve shown—that privacy-aware, ethical data collection is possible, and it’s the right thing to do. Here are just a few of the tools we’ve spun up:
The Markup Method
We have established a new model for investigative journalism; we use the scientific method as the inspiration for our reporting.
Build
We ask questions and collect or build the datasets we need to test our hypotheses.
BULLETPROOF
We bulletproof our stories through a rigorous review process, inviting external experts and even the subjects of investigations to challenge our findings.
SHOW OUR WORK
We share our research methods by publishing our datasets and our code. And we explain our approach in detailed methodological write-ups (some surpassing 10,000 words!), inviting experts and the broader public alike to understand our work, interrogate our conclusions, and engage in dialogue—bringing a new level of transparency to investigative data reporting.
Who We Are
The Markup team has added 11 members since our launch, an expansion fueled by passionate, mission-driven growth. We are a newsroom that values collaboration, a business team that guides shrewdly, and together, an organization that lives its values.
The Team
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Founder and Editor-in-ChiefJulia Angwin
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PresidentNabiha Syed
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MANAGING EDITOR FOR INVESTIGATIONSEvelyn Larrubia
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CHIEF OF STAFFKorey Te Hira
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NEWS EDITORRina Palta
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DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTRamsey Isler
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DIRECTOR OF AUDIENCERachael Berkey
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DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENTLauren Spirig
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INVESTIGATIVE REPORTERMalena Carollo
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HR BUSINESS PARTNERDeborah Dash
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VISUALIZATIONS ENGINEERJoel Eastwood
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DATA REPORTERCorin Faife
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ENTERPRISE REPORTERTodd Feathers
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INFRASTRUCTURE ENGINEERSimon Fondrie-Teitler
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REPORTERAnnie Gilbertson
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VISUAL DESIGNERGabriel Hongsdusit
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COPY EDITOR / PRODUCERJill Jaroff
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INVESTIGATIVE DATA JOURNALISTJon Keegan
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INVESTIGATIVE REPORTERAdrianne Jeffries
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ENTERPRISE REPORTERDara Kerr
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INVESTIGATIVE REPORTERLauren Kirchner
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REPORTERColin Lecher
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INVESTIGATIVE DATA JOURNALISTEmmanuel Martinez
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INVESTIGATIVE DATA JOURNALIST AND SENIOR DATA ENGINEERSurya Mattu
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GRAPHICS EDITORSam Morris
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PRIVACY REPORTERAlfred Ng
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FULL STACK ENGINEERDan Phiffer
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COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGERMaria Puertas
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INVESTIGATIVE REPORTERAaron Sankin
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INVESTIGATIVE DATA JOURNALISTMaddy Varner
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CITIZEN BROWSER PROJECT MANAGERAngie Waller
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PRODUCTION AND OPERATIONS ASSOCIATEWynton Wong
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INVESTIGATIVE DATA JOURNALISTLeon Yin
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OUR TEAM PARTNERS
To strengthen our work and amplify the impact of our stories, The Markup partners with organizations that complement our skills and extend our reach. In 2021 we were proud to work with some of today’s most well-regarded media outlets and institutions:
- The Associated Press
- Consumer Reports
- Gizmodo
- Süddeutsche Zeitung
- The City
The Board
The exceptional members of our Board of Directors share our long- term vision for building a sustainable nonprofit newsroom that uses technology to hold technology to account. We remain immensely grateful for their leadership this year.
David Boardman, Chair, Melissa Harris-Perry, Stuart Karle, Paul Ohm, Dele Olojede, Nicole Wong
New
In 2021, The Markup was proud to welcome Anil Dash, CEO of Glitch, to our Board of Directors. With decades of experience in ethical technology, Dash serves in a strategic role as the organization focuses on its next phase of growth. In addition to serving on The Markup’s board, Dash is also on the board of directors for Data & Society Research Institute and The Lower Eastside Girls Club of New York. Before his current role as CEO of Glitch, he was the co- founder and managing director of Activate and co-founder and CEO of ThinkUp, as well as a contributing editor for WIRED magazine. Anil’s background as a technology entrepreneur and his stature as a thought leader has already proven invaluable to The Markup’s operation and evolution.
HOW WE GOT HERE: You + Us
Our deepest gratitude goes out to the individuals and institutions who provide financial support to The Markup. This generosity fuels our innovative and independent journalism. Thank you for helping us investigate how powerful institutions are using technology to shape our society—and for helping us to build a better future.
HOW TO DONATE
Big Tech has become the architecture of our entire reality—and with every investigation, The Markup is uncovering just how much its power impacts our world. Your support, at every level, helps us uncover the ways technology is shaping our society and to inspire ethical data practices across industries. Together, we can build a better future—starting right now.
To discuss other ways to support The Markup, contact Lauren Spirig, Development Director at spirig@themarkup.org
The following list acknowledges institutional supporters that made contributions between January 1, 2021, and December 31, 2021.
- Arnold Ventures
- Rudolf Augstein Foundation
- Edward M. Dua & Nicole A. Wong Family Fund
- DuckDuckGo 2021
- Julie Ehrlich and Noam Elcott Fund
- Ford Foundation
- Fund for Nonprofit News: NewsMatch 2020
- Goel Giving Fund
- Marc Haas Foundation
- Irie Foundation
- Raymond James Charitable Susan Litaud Foundation
- Luminate
- The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
- New Venture Fund
- Craig Newmark Philanthropies
- Omidyar Network
- Park Foundation
- ProtonMail
- John Sperling Foundation
- Spiezle Family Charitable Fund
- Thomas Street Fund
We are deeply indebted to the hundreds of individual donors who support The Markup, without whom the successes of 2021 would not have been possible.
At this time, due to the privacy-focused nature of our work, we do not list individual donor names in our Annual Report.
Special Thanks
A special thanks goes out to the many talented people and organizations below for their guidance, expertise and support in 2021.
- Joy Ahmed
- Shazeda Ahmed
- Dana Amihere
- Fiona Anderson-Kowlessar
- Ian Ardouin-Fumat
- Chinmayi Arun
- Leila Barghouty
- James Bernal
- Emma Beutel
- Calvin Bradford
- Dare Anne S. Brawley
- Yemile Bucay
- Dell Cameron
- Robyn Caplan
- Dan Carino
- Jeffrey Carrillo
- Proana Matt Chase
- Kenyatta Cheese
- Kyunghyun Cho
- Brandi Collins-Dexter
- Color of Change
- Lynae Cook
- Andrea Coscelli
- Andrew Couts
- Judy Cronin
- Jeff Crouse
- Ariel Davis
- Bob Devecchis
- Ojus Doshi
- Veena Dubal
- Brooke Erin Duffy
- Rebekka Dunlap
- Cynthia Dwork
- Laura Edelson
- Michael Ekstrand
- Sarah Fineman
- Amber Ford
- Deen Freelon
- Brian Friedberg
- G-Squared Partners
- Bridget Gallagher
- Debby Goldberg
- Rebecca Goldin
- Emily Goligoski
- Micha Gorelick
- Karin Halperin
- Xavier Harding
- Rita Harper
- Sara Harrison
- María Hergueta
- Woodrow Hertzag
- William Isaac
- Pinar Isak
- David Isenberg
- Pinar Istek
- Harrison Jacobs
- Juozas “Joe” Kaziukėnas
- Justin Kazmark
- Elizabeth Kim
- Kate Klonick
- Jeffrey Knockel
- Brett Kodama
- Karen Kornbluh
- Berit Kruse
- Laura Kurgan
- Jennifer LaFleur
- Kat Lapelosa
- Josh Lash
- Michael Lavine
- David Lazer
- Daniel Lempres
- Emily Lin
- José Loya
- Kristian Lum
- Abigail Markowitz
- Marianna Martinelli
- Cynthia McKelvey
- MediaJustice
- Dhruv Mehrotra
- Jeremy Merrill
- Howard Metzger
- Mijente
- Bratislav Milenković
- Muslim Advocates
- Netograph
- Brendan Nyhan
- Dan Oshinsky
- Liz O’Sullivan
- Zoe Pappenheimer
- Eli Pariser
- Thomas Pullin
- Manoel Ribeiro
- Monica Riese
- Ronald Robertson
- Brian Root
- Emily Roseman
- Kristin Lynn Sainani
- Vivian Schiller
- Victoria Schott
- Simply Secure
- Jeremy Singer-Vine
- Brittany Hosea Small
- Stephen Wm. Smith
- Alex Stamos
- Ben Tanen
- Kristen Taylor
- The Project Twins
- Sébastien Thibault
- Steven Tiegel
- Mago Torres
- Akilah Townsend
- John Napier Tye
- Luke Underwood
- Aaricka Washington
- David Weisburd
- Rebecca Weiss
- Christo Wilson
- Benedict Witzenberger
- Jill Woodward
- Eve Zelickson
- Shoshana Zuboff
- Ethan Zuckerman
