Civic Tech Field Guide
Sharing knowledge and productively growing the fieldAdjacent Fields > Digital security and privacy - (239)
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 239 Results
Cloudflare for Campaigns
101 Townsend St San Francisco, CA 94107It is designed to make it easier for all political campaigns and parties, especially those with small teams and limited resources, to get access to cybersecurity services.
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.
Civic Data Privacy Leaders Network
MetroLab Network, 777 6th Street Northwest, Washington, DC 20001, USAA collaborative that will provide an active, authoritative resource for municipal leaders to navigate emerging privacy issues, share practical guidance, and promote fair and transparent data practices
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.
Defend Our Movements is a web based clearinghouse of the most up-to-date and useful information about protecting your devices and data—whether on the Internet, through cell phone communications, or in your home or office.
Berkeley Institute for Free Speech Online
Berkeley, California, USAWe provide software that ensures free speech online
Defend yourself against tracking and surveillance. Circumvent censorship.
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.
Project Galileo
101 Townsend St San Francisco, CA 94107If you are an organization working in the arts, human rights, civil society, journalism, or democracy, you can apply for Project Galileo to get Cloudflare’s cybersecurity protection
SecureDrop is an open-source whistleblower submission system that media organizations can use to securely accept documents from and communicate with anonymous sources.
European Digital Rights (EDRi)
BrusselsEuropean Digital Rights (EDRi) is an association of civil and human rights organisations from across Europe. We defend rights and freedoms in the digital environment.
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.
Psiphon
CanadaPsiphon is a free and open-source internet censorship circumvention tool that uses a combination of secure communication and obfuscation technologies, providing open access to the internet for millions of citizens around the world.
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?
Open Tech Fund (OTF)
2025 M Street Northwest, Downtown, Washington, DC 20036, USAWe support the research, design, development, and deployment of technology-focused projects that counter online censorship and combat repressive surveillance, to enable global internet users to exercise their fundamental human rights online.
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.
Transformative Cyber Innovation Lab
Washington, DCThe Transformative Cyber Innovation Lab (TCIL or Lab) will find and nurture technologically feasible, testable pilot projects which begin to solve some of the hardest cyber problems afflicting the national security industrial base and our country.
Enjambre
Mexico (Estados Unidos Mexicanos)We are an organization that defends and promotes Internet freedom, through concrete actions of research, dissemination and defense in cases where there is a violation of digital rights.
Totem is an online learning platform on using digital security tools and tactics effectively for journalists, activists, and trainers.
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.
The free and simple tool that enables civil society organizations to build better security policies.
The Kit offers a set of self-diagnostic tools for human rights defenders, bloggers, activists and journalists facing attacks themselves, as well as providing guidelines for digital first responders to assist a person under threat.
La Asociación de Tecnología, Educación, Desarrollo, Investigación, Comunicación (TEDIC)
Padre Cardozo 719 c/ Teniente Ruiz, Las Mercedes, AsunciónDesarrollamos tecnología cívica abierta: Promovemos el uso y desarrollo de software y hardware libre, diseño abierto y datos abiertos
CryptoHarlem
Harlem, Manhattan, New York, NY, USACryptoHarlem is a Digital Surveillance Clinic that has been meeting on a monthly basis since 2013 in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City. It is always open to the public and completely free of charge.
OKTHANKS
United States of America (the)Okthanks is an independent organization providing research and product design services for open source technology. We unite with a mission to leverage technology for social good.
NYC Libraries Digital Safety program
New York Public Library - Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, 5th Avenue, New York, NY, USANYC Digital Safety: Privacy & Security is a partnership between New York City’s three library systems and METRO, a library resources council serving NYC and Westchester County
PersonalData.IO
Impact Hub Geneva, Rue Fendt, Geneva, SwitzerlandA collaborative tool to display data records on a map. Your data, Your control, Your options
MIT Privacy Legislation: Law and Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)This course brings together engineering students from MIT with law students from Georgetown Law School to explore current issues in privacy policy and technology.
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.
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.
Public Interest Tech at the Royal Society of Arts Conference
Moscone Center, Howard Street, San Francisco, CA, USAAcross six sessions on March 7, 2019, we’ll look at how public interest tech is already changing the way power is distributed and decisions are made across public policy, philanthropic organizations, and Silicon Valley board rooms.
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Civic Tech Field Guide