Unmio addresses the urgent need for secure, community-controlled digital infrastructure in vulnerable communities. For example, millions of low-wage workers and the organizations that serve them rely on popular digital platforms that compromise their privacy or share data with third parties. Unmio provides a safe alternative: a consent-based platform where users and organizations can safely communicate, coordinate services, and manage sensitive data without fear of surveillance or exploitation. By returning data control to the people who generate it, Unmio strengthens trust, dignity, and access to critical support.

I worked on a project with leading farm worker serving organizations to research smartphone use among their communities. Even though it was only a 4-month project, it revealed a powerful insight: workers were eager and capable digital users, but lacked safe, trustworthy, and culturally accessible tools. By enabling communities and organizations with solutions designed around these needs, we were able to help deliver over $80 million in USDA disaster relief payments to over 120,000 farm workers across the country. The experience showed us the urgent need for community-based tech and inspired the creation of Unmio.

Our biggest challenge is building and maintaining trust with communities and nonprofits during a time of instability. Shifting government policies have created funding gaps and uncertainty, making it harder for organizations to adopt new tools, even ones designed to protect them. Many communities are wary of digital systems due to surveillance fears and past harms. To overcome this, we prioritize transparency, consent, and community-led implementation, but trust takes time and in today’s climate, that’s our most valuable and fragile resource.

Our work is informed by leaders and movements that center dignity, equity, and self-determination. Technically, we’re guided by the Trust Over IP Foundation and open-source communities advancing self-sovereign identity and decentralized architecture, like Credo, DIDComm working group, and the Open Wallet Foundation. We draw inspiration from Mondragon’s cooperative model, which shows how economic systems can be built around shared ownership and community governance. These frameworks shape Unmio’s approach to privacy, consent, and digital trust ensuring our platform remains transparent, interoperable, and accountable to the people it serves.

One participant who embodies our mission is Alma, a farm worker and single mother in California. Recent changes to SNAP eligibility and verification rules will make it harder for her family to access food assistance. Without formal employment records or digital documentation, she risks being excluded. Through the Unmio mobile app, Alma would be able to discover and connect with a nonprofit and securely share proof of her work to qualify, without compromising her data or privacy. This experience highlights the need for tools that protect vulnerable communities while helping them safely navigate increasingly complex systems with dignity.