Commentary
I had a look at the website, and initially liked what I saw and wrote a comment to them as follows:

I like this initiative very much BUT ... the issues are huge and the way to progress needs addressing. Not clear where the rubber hits the road. The data dimension and raising awareness are one thing, but putting boots on the ground to make change on the ground still needs addressing. Peter Burgess @truevaluemetric www.truevaluemetrics.org

After I invetigated further I started to change my mind about how much I liked it. The first thing that bothered me was the metric they were talking about was nothing more than an 'algorithm' that calculates based on some model the low wage/slave wage content of the product. From the TVM perspective this is not very helpful, because action to change things has got to be done with tangible data about what? who? where? by whom? etc. The generalized computed data has no value whatsoever in addressing the issue ... it is a wate of time and energy.

It also turns out the focus is largely on getting a film distributed that is going to have some role in building awareness and raising funds. I then explored how funds were going to be used, and they are trying to get the funds allocated in an efficient way to meaningful projects ... but then it turns out that the process for doing that is ... in my view ... rather weak, if not dysfunctional and inappropriate. I may be wrong on this but the warning signals are there.

The issue they have identified is huge and disgusting. It is also highly profitable for the people that control the industry. The people that work to solve the problem are in an asymetrical contest which reflects systemic problems with society, especially the intolerable level of poverty that exists in many parts of the world. The model being used for this good idea is essentially doomed to do not very much. I wish I was wrong, but history suggests I am right.
Peter Burgess

How Many Slaves Are Working For You?

A new website and mobile app looks at your purchases and determines the amount of forced labor that's gone into everything you own. The number may surprise you.

It's not easy to be a socially responsible consumer. Even if you buy mostly local products and diligently keep track of corporate environmental footprints, you may still be leaving a trail of slaves in your wake. After all, who do you think is digging up the minerals in your smartphone or picking the cotton for your T-shirts? Slavery Footprint, a new website and mobile app that launched today (the 149th anniversary of the announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation) can tell you approximately how many slaves have pitched in to make the goods you enjoy on a daily basis.

The site, created in a collaboration between anti-slavery nonprofit Call + Response and the State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, uses a complex algorithm to calculate how many slaves work for you based on a number of questions, including how much jewelry you own, whether you're a gadget geek, what's in your medicine cabinet, and even whether you've paid for sex (you'll just have to check out the site to get the details on that one).

After going through the process, I discovered that there are 101 slaves toiling away for me. That is actually a fairly low number, according to Justin Dillon of Call + Response. 'The issue seems far away but the truth is you can't leave your home in the morning without touching something that was made with slavery,' he says. In this case, a slave--or forced laborer--is defined as 'anyone who is forced to work without pay, being economically exploited, and is unable to walk away.'

Call + Response obviously can't take into account the brand name of every product in your home, but the Slavery Footprint algorithm is still pretty detailed--it uses information from the Department of Labor, Department of State, and Transparency International, among other organizations.

But Dillon says the point isn't to make people ashamed of our consumer culture. 'I didn't want to create another bummer calculator that only spits out bad news,' he says. 'I wanted to see how we can help individuals use their lifestyles to end this.'

So in addition to the Slavery Footprint site, Call + Response is also offering an app that lets people check in to storefronts (a la Foursquare) to let them know that they want slavery-free products. The app also allows people to directly send letters to over 1,000 brands to demand an end to slavery in their products--and then share the companies' responses to create a crowdsourced database. By taking these actions, users receive Free World Points, which Dillon likens to carbon offsets.

The Free World Points don't exactly take away from the seriousness of the slavery problem, but they do serve as proof that users are at least trying to make a difference. 'Success for us means that we've shifted the conversation in the marketplace a little more that makes it easier for corporations to engage in [the slavery issue] in a substantive manner,' says Dillon.

Reach Ariel Schwartz via Twitter or emai