This National Volunteer Week we remind volunteers everywhere how important it is to stay safe while generously giving your time and talents to our communities.
Our advice is to not share your personal contact details with the many organizations, groups and individuals you meet as a volunteer.
Widely sharing personal phone numbers and email addresses puts volunteers at risk of identity theft, fraud, stalking, harassment and other safety concerns.
The safe option is to use MySudo to instantly create new, alternative contact information to use with all your volunteering contacts and organizations.
Using MySudo while volunteering online or in person means you instantly create and share dedicated volunteering-only contact details instead of your own personal ones, so that people you meet while volunteering can only contact you professionally and never personally. You don’t expose your personal life in your public role.
The MySudo app family also offers data removal from companies and VPN (and password manager is coming soon!).
Here’s how to use MySudo this National Volunteer Week:
- Download MySudo for iOS or Android.
- Set up a dedicated Sudo (a secure and instant digital identity) specifically for all your volunteering activities and emails, calls and messages. Depending on your plan, within that Sudo you’ll set up a secure email, phone number, and handle, and it’ll come with a private browser and the option for a virtual card, as well.
- Use your ‘Volunteering Sudo’ phone and email instead of your personal ones every time you fill out forms, sign up for activities, and give your details to the people you meet and help as a volunteer. You keep strangers at arm’s length and prevent your personal email from being added to mailing lists and your personal number from being shared with other volunteers and organizations without your consent.
- Take advantage of end-to-end encryption on all calls, messages and emails between you and other MySudo users—and get all this secure chat for FREE when you use your Sudo handle!
- Keep your ‘Volunteering Sudo’ especially for all your volunteer activities to stay organized and on top of this important part of your life.
To recap, using MySudo for volunteering means:
- Adding a layer of protection and control over your personal information and personal safety
- Maintaining your privacy even while engaging with the public as a volunteer
- Managing your online presence and reducing the risk of data breaches and spam
- Reducing the risk of stalking and harassment from strangers you meet
- Organizing all your volunteering info and communications into a dedicated Sudo (and other areas of your life into their own Sudos, too!). This is called compartmentalization, the most powerful data protection strategy there is.
National Volunteer Week 2025 runs April 20 to 26 and is part of Global Volunteer Month. Anonyome Labs recognizes and thanks the many volunteers throughout the country who lend their time, talent and voice to make a difference in our communities. We see you and thank you! Please stay safe.
Remember, MySudo makes it easier for volunteers to engage in meaningful activities while safeguarding their privacy and personal information. Learn more.
Anonyome Labs’ Sudo Safe Initiative is a program developed to bring privacy to those at higher risk of verbal harassment or physical violence. Learn more.
