Our Mission
The Justxt.org platform, an SMS enabled corruption-reporting service and data-collection platform, aims to capitalize on the rapid take-up of mobile technologies across the world in service of the fight against corruption. It is often said that good policy requires good data, and this holds especially true with regards to addressing the scourge of corruption across the world.
What We Do
Justxt provides a mobile platform to empower those most affected by corruption by allowing them to anonymously report demands for bribes using mobile phone technology. Many of those who are most vulnerable to corruption currently have little means of making their voices heard. The mobile platform allows any individual with a mobile phone to report demands for bribes using a simple SMS message. The information collected will be used to identify patterns of corruption by geographical area and sector, amongst other criteria, thus providing key data and vital evidence to support calls for tangible change.
Why?
In recent months there has been an increase in public awareness of corruption in many countries. A number of recent campaigns have sought to harness this public disquiet. Of particular interest is the emergence of a handful of websites that allow members of the public to engage with anti-corruption campaigns by submitting reports when they have had to pay a bribe to secure a public service.
The information collected on these sites has been used to identify patterns of corruption and advocate for changes to systems and processes. Justxt aims to enhance these bribe reporting campaigns by providing a service that enables people to make bribe reports using a mobile phone. Mobile technology has the potential to increase the participation in these campaigns significantly for the following two reasons:
1. Mobile phone coverage in the developing world where petty graft is most prevalent is rapidly expanding compared to Internet connections. For example, in India 8.4% of the population are connected to the internet#, whereas 72%, that is 851 million people, have a mobile phone#. Thus, expanding a bribe reporting service to mobile phones would massively increase the number of potential users.
2. The immediacy of mobile technology allows users to report their experience of corrupting as and when it happens, rather than waiting until they are connected to the internet. This will reduce the attenuation that an online campaign naturally suffers from.
At its core Justxt will enable any person with a mobile phone to report their experience of corruption in the same way that users are currently able to report their experiences online. The platform supports reporting via SMS message and smart-phone apps.
Enhanced Data as a Tool to Fight Corruption
As mentioned above the overarching aim is to use a statistical analysis of bribe data to advocate for changes to systems and processes. For example a data-set can be used to identify the occurrence of bribe-taking in the passport application process and pinpoint the exact step in the process that was most vulnerable to corruption.
The information collected from bribe reports includes: amount paid, location, date, the public services involved and the reason for the bribe. The detailed nature of the data, and large size of the data-set, could allow for a multifaceted and in-depth analysis of corruption that has hitherto been difficult and expensive to carry out. This could include the identification of geo-spatial as well as temporal and thematic patterns of corruption.
Anonymity
Information that could be used to identify either of the parties involved in the payment of a bribe will not be included. We feel that anonymity is crucial for such a politically and legally sensitive campaign in order to gain the trust of users and avoid abuse of the platform to personally or politically smear others. Any so called “naming and shaming” would distract from the broader aims of tackling the root causes of corruption.