Open Rights Group
The Open Rights Group is a UK-based organisation that works to preserve digital rights and freedoms by campaigning on digital rights issues and by fostering a community of grassroots activists. It campaigns on numerous issues including mass surveillance, internet filtering and censorship, and intellectual property rights.
History
The organisation was started by Danny O'Brien, Cory Doctorow,, Rufus Pollock, James Cronin, Stefan Magdalinski, Louise Ferguson and Suw Charman after a panel discussion at Open Tech 2005. O'Brien created a pledge on PledgeBank, placed on 23 July 2005, with a deadline of 25 December 2005: "I will create a standing order of 5 pounds 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. The Open Rights Group was launched at a "sell-out" meeting in Soho, London.Work
The group has made submissions to the All Party Internet Group inquiry into digital rights management and the Gowers Review of Intellectual Property.The group was honoured in the 2008 Privacy International Big Brother Awards alongside No2ID, Liberty, Genewatch UK and others, as a recognition of their efforts to keep state and corporate mass surveillance at bay.
In 2010 the group worked with 38 Degrees to oppose the introduction of the Digital Economy Act, which was passed in April 2010.
The group opposes measures in the draft Online Safety Bill introduced in 2021, that it sees as infringing free speech rights and online anonymity.
The group campaigns against the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport's plan to switch to an opt-out model for cookies. The group spokesperson stated that "he UK government propose to make online spying the default option" in response to the proposed switch.
Goals
- To collaborate with other digital rights and related organisations.
- To nurture a community of campaigning volunteers, from grassroots activists to technical and legal experts.
- To preserve and extend traditional civil liberties in the digital world.
- To provide a media clearinghouse, connecting journalists with experts and activists.
- To raise awareness in the media of digital rights abuses.
Areas of interest
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:Access to knowledge
- Copyright
- * Creative Commons
- * Free and open source software
- * The public domain
- Crown copyright
- Digital Restrictions Management
- Software patents
Free speech and censorship
- Internet filtering
- Right to parody
- s. 127 Communications Act 2003
Government and democracy
Privacy, surveillance and censorship
- Automatic Vehicle Tracking
- Communications data retention
- Identity management
- Net Neutrality
- NHS patients' medical database
- Police DNA Records
- RFID
Structure
ORG has a paid staff, whose members include:- Jim Killock
Advisory council and board of directors
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. 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:
- Milena Popova
- Owen Blacker
- Simon Phipps