Civic Tech Field Guide
Sharing knowledge and productively growing the fieldAdjacent Fields > Digital security and privacy - (240)
People will not (and should not) use tech that's untrustworthy. Too many tech projects, including civic tech projects, have abused user privacy and/or failed users in providing a secure user experience. Anyone advocating for increasing digitization of government, social benefits, or public conversation should invest in strong digital security and privacy-respecting approach from the onset and on an ongoing basis, as this area evolves rapidly.
Showing 240 Results
Keep yourself and your community safe with Círculo, an app easy to use that allows you to send check-ins and urgent alerts in a fast and private way.
We are a group of artists, engineers, activists, and technologists who have been behind the largest online protests in human history, channeling Internet outrage into political power to win public interest victories previously thought to be impossible
*privacy not included
Mountain View, CA, USAMozilla Foundation's annual naughty and nice list of consumer tech's privacy policies
JAAKLAC initiative
Finland (Suomi)Reseaching and advocating for critical digital education and youth participation from Latin America and the Majority World
An international effort to empower individuals and business to respect privacy, safeguard data and enable trust.
The Glass Room
SoHo, Manhattan, New York, NY, USAa three week pop up program inducing over 30 commissioned artworks, and a jam packed program of guest speakers.
Citizen Lab Summer Institute
TorontoThe Citizen Lab Summer Institute (CLSI) provides a unique opportunity to meet a diverse group of researchers, practitioners, and advocates and develop new and exciting research that addresses pressing questions for the Internet.
Project Shield
New York CityProject Shield uses Google’s infrastructure to protect independent news sites from distributed denial of service attacks (DDoS), a type of digital attack that exploits thousands or even millions of computers to overwhelm a website’s servers and take it offline.
Guardian Project creates easy to use secure apps, open-source software libraries, and customized mobile devices that can be used around the world by any person looking to protect their communications and personal data from unjust intrusion, interception and monitoring.
Outline
New York CityOutline makes it easy for news organizations to set up a virtual private network (VPN) on their own server.
Mozilla Foundation
Mozilla, East Evelyn Avenue, Mountain View, CA, USAEstablished in 2003, guided by the Mozilla Manifesto, the Mozilla Foundation believes the Internet is a global public resource that must remain open and accessible to all.
Digital Integrity Fellowship
2025 M Street Northwest, Downtown, Washington, DC 20036, USAThe Digital Integrity Fellowship Program (DIFP) provides fixed monthly stipends to individuals capable of addressing short-term and long-term threats to freedom of expression online.
Mailfence
Rue Middelbourg, Watermael-Boitsfort, BelgiumSecure and private email service with collaboration suite.
Trustwire gives you strong end-to-end encryption while keeping it simple to use. Trustwire is web-based, so users don't need to download or install apps, and they can manage or exchange files whether they are overseas or just down the street.
EFF Guide to Messaging
Digital Rights Foundation
PakistanHelping make the internet safer and more accessible
Information Controls Fellowship
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Raoul Wallenberg Place Southwest, Washington, DC, USAThe Information Controls Fellowship Program (ICFP) cultivates research, outputs, and creative collaboration on topics related to repressive internet censorship and surveillance.
Building resilient systems to keep civil society safe online
Any NGO, human rights or media organisation that faces threats due to the work they are doing, can apply for this grant.
Outline VPN offered in Zimbabwe
ZimbabweCITE in Zimbabwe and Code for Africa have partnered to make Outline from Jigsaw available to news organisations and CSOs. It means VPN can be rolled out on their own servers to connect to the internet and keep communication private and safe.
Secure Usability and Accessibility Lab at Open Tech Fund
2025 M Street Northwest, Downtown, Washington, DC 20036, USAOTF’s Secure Usability and Accessibility Lab offers secure usability and user-interface assistance to Internet freedom and digital security tools to help them recognise and solve usability challenges that hampered the adoption of those tools in repressive contexts.
HuriDocs
Geneva, SwitzerlandHuman rights defenders need evidence, law and research to advocate justice and accountability. We develop tools and strategies that make this information accessible.
Privacy International
62 Britton Street, London EC1M 5UY, UKWe’re here to protect democracy, defend people's dignity, and demand accountability from the powerful institutions who breach public trust.
Discotechs
Detroit, MIAt the Data DiscoTech young people learned about what data is, unique ways to create data visualizations, and how to collect and analyze data.
Future of Privacy Forum on Smart Cities
Washington, DCConnected technologies and always-on data flows are helping make today’s cities and communities more livable, productive, and sustainable. At the same time, these technologies raise concerns about individual privacy, freedom of choice, and institutional discrimination.
Calyx Institute
Brooklyn, NYOur mission is to educate the public about privacy in digital communications and to develop tools that anyone can use. By embracing "privacy by design," we help make digital security and privacy more accessible to everyone.
Facebook Tracking Exposed
Italy (Italia)a project to improve the transparency behind Facebook’s algorithms
ICRC Rules on Personal Data Protection
Avenue de la Paix 19, 1202 Geneva, SwitzerlandThe ICRC responds quickly and efficiently to help people affected by armed conflict. We also respond to disasters in conflict zones, because the effects of a disaster are compounded if a country is already at war.
A powerful investigative look at data-based discrimination—and how technology affects civil and human rights and economic equity
SAFETAG adapts traditional penetration testing and risk assessment methodologies to be relevant to smaller non-profit organizations.
Digital Defense Fund
United States of America (the)We are Digital Defense Fund, and we do digital security for the abortion access movement.
Data Harm Record
Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales, UKThe aim of this document is to provide a running record of ‘data harms’, harms that have been caused by uses of big data. The goal is to document and learn from where things have gone wrong.
We support Human Rights Defenders facing digital threats and work to strengthen local rapid response networks.
eclips.is is a free, lightweight platform where you can launch your (virtual) servers. It is funded by Open Technology Fund (OTF) to facilitate an easy accessible cloud infrastructure.
Internet Freedom Festival
Las Naves, Carrer de Joan Verdeguer, València, SpainAn un-conference, one of the leading gatherings in the space, that brought together close to 1,000 attendees from 132 countries in 2018.
Digital Trust for Places & Routines (DTPR) is an open-source communication standard to increase the transparency, legibility and accountability of digital technology in the built environment.
Netfreedom Pioneers
CaliforniaWe are a technology nonprofit developing innovative anti-censorship tools and sending life-changing information anywhere the Internet doesn’t reach.
Gender and Technology Institutes
Brunnenstraße 9, 10119 Berlin, GermanyIn partnerships with local and international organisations, each GTI has further developed specific facilitation methodologies and training contents addressing the risks, attacks and contexts faced by activist women in the region.
Berkeley Institute for Free Speech Online
Berkeley, California, USAWe provide software that ensures free speech online
Intra
New York CityIntra is an Android app that protects against DNS manipulation, making it easy to access blocked websites and apps and get safer access to the internet.
Totem is an online learning platform on using digital security tools and tactics effectively for journalists, activists, and trainers.
SecureDrop is an open-source whistleblower submission system that media organizations can use to securely accept documents from and communicate with anonymous sources.
Community Lab at Open Tech Fund
2025 M Street Northwest, Downtown, Washington, DC 20036, USAThe Community Lab provides services that empower the community to become stronger and vibrant by focusing on cultivating deeper trust relationships, improving knowledge share and collaboration, and supporting and diversifying the next generation of leaders.
Tella
Washington, DCTella is a secure documentation app for Android, making it easier and safer to produce verifiable evidence and collect data in challenging environments
The Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto
Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, Devonshire Place, Toronto, ON, CanadaThe Citizen Lab is an interdisciplinary laboratory based at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, University of Toronto, focusing on research, development, and high-level strategic policy and legal engagement at the intersection of information and communication technologies, human rights, and global security.
Protecting democratic elections through secure, verifiable voting
Jigsaw
New York CityHow can technology make people in the world safer?
Who Targets Me
LondonDid Facebook ads win the presidency for Donald Trump? Did they cause Brexit? Are they changing the way democracy works? Install Who Targets Me to find out who’s using Facebook ads to win your vote – and how they’re doing it.
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With support from
National Endowment for Democracy
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Civic Tech Field Guide