 | |
| Abbreviation | ORG |
|---|---|
| Formation | 2005, UK |
| Type | Non-profit organisation |
| Purpose | Law, Advocacy, Digital Rights |
| Headquarters | London, England |
| Location |
|
| Staff | 11 |
| Website | openrightsgroup.org |
TheOpen Rights Group (ORG) is a UK-based organisation that works to preservedigital rights and freedoms by campaigning on digital rights issues[1] and by fostering a community of grassroots activists. It campaigns on numerous issues including mass surveillance, internet filtering and censorship, and intellectual property rights.
The organisation was started byDanny O'Brien,Cory Doctorow,Ian Brown [d],Rufus Pollock,James Cronin,Stefan Magdalinski,Louise Ferguson andSuw Charman after a panel discussion at Open Tech 2005.[2] O'Brien created a pledge onPledgeBank, placed on 23 July 2005, with a deadline of 25 December 2005:"I will create a standing order of 5pounds per month to support an organisation that will campaign for digital rights in the UK but only if 1,000 other people will too." The pledge reached 1000 people on 29 November 2005.[3][4] The Open Rights Group was launched at a "sell-out" meeting inSoho, London.[5][6]
The group has made submissions to the All Party Internet Group (APIG) inquiry intodigital rights management[7][8] and theGowers Review of Intellectual Property.[9][10]
The group was honoured in the 2008Privacy InternationalBig Brother Awards alongsideNo2ID,Liberty,Genewatch UK and others, as a recognition of their efforts to keep state and corporatemass surveillance at bay.[11]
In 2010 the group worked with38 Degrees[12] to oppose the introduction of theDigital Economy Act, which was passed in April 2010.[13]
The group opposes measures in the draftOnline Safety Bill introduced in 2021, that it sees as infringing free speech rights and online anonymity.[14][15][16]
The group campaigns against theDepartment for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport's plan to switch to an opt-out model forcookies. The group spokesperson stated that "[t]he UK government propose to make online spying the default option" in response to the proposed switch.[17]
The organisation, though focused on the impact of digital technology on the liberty of UK citizens, operates with an apparently wide range of interests within that category. Its interests include:[18][19]
ORG has a paid staff,[20] whose members include:
Former staff includeSuw Charman-Anderson andBecky Hogge, both executive directors, e-voting coordinator Jason Kitcat, campaigner Peter Bradwell, grassroots campaigner Katie Sutton and administrator Katerina Maniadaki.[21]Neil Gaiman was previously the group's patron.[22] As of October 2022, the group had over 43,000 supporters.[23]
In addition to staff members and volunteers, there is an advisory panel of over thirty members, and a board of directors, which oversees the group's work, staff, fundraising and policy.[24] The current board members are:
In January 2015, the Open Rights Group announced the formation of a Scottish Advisory Council which will be handling matters relating to Scottish digital rights and campaigns. The Advisory Council is made up of:
From the existing UK Advisory Council:
And from the Open Rights Group Board:
One of the first projects is to raise awareness and opposition to the Scottish Identity Database.
ORGCON was the first ever conference dedicated to digital rights in the UK,[25] marketed as "a crash course in digital rights". It was held for the first time in 2010 atCity University in London and included keynote talks fromCory Doctorow, politicians and similar pressure groups includingLiberty,NO2ID andBig Brother Watch. ORGCON has since been held in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, and 2019 where the keynote was given byEdward Snowden.
