Freedom of the Press Foundation

What Freedom of the Press Foundation does

Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2012 and headquartered at 49 Flatbush Avenue #1017 in Brooklyn, New York, dedicated to protecting press freedom and supporting public interest journalism in the United States and abroad. Its work spans open source technology, digital security training, and legal advocacy aimed at safeguarding journalists, their sources, and the legal environment in which reporting takes place.

FPF's core technology portfolio is built around three open source products: SecureDrop, a whistleblower submission system that enables anonymous source communication and is deployed across more than 60 news outlets worldwide; Dangerzone, a document-handling tool that converts potentially malicious files (e.g., untrusted PDFs) into sandboxed safe PDFs; and the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, a news site and systematic database documenting press freedom violations in the United States including arrests of journalists, equipment seizures, assaults, and subpoenas. These products are complemented by a Digital Security Education program that delivers trainings directly to news organizations, individual journalists, and filmmakers, and by The Classifieds, an editorial product providing reporting on government secrecy, surveillance, and whistleblower rights.

FPF operates on a donation- and grant-funded nonprofit model; its software tools and training services are offered free of charge to users, with no enterprise pricing, contracts, or paywalls. The organization's go-to-market motion is community-led and direct-to-consumer, combining self-serve software downloads with field-delivered training and broad public advocacy campaigns (FOIA lawsuits, public letters, coalition mobilizations). Notable leadership includes co-founders Daniel Ellsberg, John Perry Barlow, and Rainey Reitman, with Trevor Timm serving as Executive Director and Micah Lee as CTO.

Name

Freedom of the Press Foundation

Legal name

Freedom of the Press Foundation

Website

https://pressfreedomfoundation.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Freedom of the Press Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that builds open source security tools (SecureDrop, Dangerzone), operates the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, and delivers digital security training to journalists, newsrooms, and filmmakers worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Grants: FPF operates as a nonprofit organization funded primarily through tax-deductible donations from individuals and grants from foundations supporting press freedom and journalism.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

No source content was provided in the input block from which to extract core offerings details.

Product overview

Freedom of the Press Foundation offers a portfolio of technology products and services to protect journalists and press freedom. The core offerings include SecureDrop (an open source whistleblower submission system for anonymous source communication), Dangerzone (document conversion software for safe file handling), and the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker (a database documenting press freedom violations). These are complemented by Digital Security Education services providing training to news organizations and journalists, and The Classifieds providing ongoing reporting on government secrecy and surveillance issues.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SecureDrop: Open source whistleblower submission system that helps journalists communicate with sources anonymously and securely, used in over 60 news outlets worldwide
• Dangerzone
• U.S. Press Freedom Tracker

Products and services

• No source content was provided in the input block from which to extract products and services. No source content was provided in the input block from which to extract products and services.

Quantifiable outcome

• SecureDrop is used in over 60 news outlets worldwide.
• +1 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• American Historical Association and American OversightcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 June 2026FPF joined with the American Historical Association and American Oversight to file a federal lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's effort to exempt the White House from the Presidential Records Act of 1978. The lawsuit led to a preliminary injunction requiring White House staff to comply with the Act, with Judge John Bates ruling the law is likely constitutional.
• Former journalists including Sam Donaldson and Jim AcostaminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 May 2026FPF joined with former journalists including Sam Donaldson and Jim Acosta to send a letter warning that Paramount's proposed $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery could compromise CNN's editorial independence and open the door to improper political meddling in journalists' editorial decisions.
• Labor advocates and free speech organizationsminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 May 2026FPF joined with labor advocates and other free speech organizations to criticize the Trump administration's proposal requiring federal employees to sign nondisclosure agreements, warning it could discourage whistleblowers and create a secretive environment.
• FIRE, Cato Institute, Chamber of Commerce, former SEC attorneysminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 April 2026FPF joined at least 16 organizations including FIRE, Cato Institute, the Chamber of Commerce, and former SEC attorneys in filing amici curiae briefs supporting a Supreme Court case challenging the SEC's Gag Rule, which prohibits individuals who settle SEC enforcement cases from publicly criticizing those cases.
• ACLU, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Defending Rights and Dissent, RootsActionminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 12 June 2025FPF joined with digital rights organizations including the ACLU, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Defending Rights and Dissent, and RootsAction to send a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee leaders urging them not to advance the STOP CSAM Act, warning it would create incentives for platforms to eliminate end-to-end encryption.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press: RCFP is a U.S.-based nonprofit that provides pro-bono legal representation to journalists and files amicus briefs in press-freedom cases. It directly parallels FPF's legal-advocacy arm — both file amici and pursue litigation on behalf of journalists, and both are headquartered in the U.S. press-freedom space.
• Access Now: Access Now is a 501(c)(3) digital-rights nonprofit that defends users' digital civil liberties, including secure communication and encryption policy. Its mission overlaps directly with FPF's digital-security-for-journalists work and its advocacy against encryption backdoors (e.g., STOP CSAM Act).
• Committee to Protect Journalists: CPJ is a U.S.-based press-freedom nonprofit focused on advocating for imprisoned journalists and documenting attacks on the press globally. It is the most direct mission-peer to FPF — both organizations document press-freedom violations, advocate for journalists, and operate U.S./global programs in the same category.

Broad incumbents

• Mozilla Foundation: Mozilla Foundation is a 501(c)(3) promoting open-source internet technologies, including encryption and trustworthy AI. It shares FPF's commitment to open-source software, encryption, and digital rights, and overlaps in core stakeholder audiences (technologists, journalists).
• Electronic Frontier Foundation: EFF is a long-established 501(c)(3) digital-rights nonprofit that litigates, advocates, and educates on issues including encryption and government surveillance. FPF has directly partnered with EFF (e.g., the STOP CSAM Act letter), making it a closely aligned peer with overlapping mission, advocacy style, and target audiences (journalists, technologists, civil-liberties advocates).
• ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union): ACLU is a large national civil-liberties 501(c)(3) with an active press-freedom program. FPF has directly partnered with ACLU (e.g., the STOP CSAM Act coalition), and ACLU pursues overlapping litigation and advocacy on First Amendment and surveillance issues facing journalists.
• Open Technology Fund: OTF is a grantee-funded nonprofit that supports open-source technologies used by journalists and human-rights advocates, including funding tools like Tor and SecureDrop. It is a direct ecosystem peer — both OTF and FPF fund/develop open-source internet-freedom tools serving the same journalist/activist user base.
• Reporters Without Borders / Reporters Sans Frontières: RSF is an international press-freedom nonprofit headquartered in Paris with a broader geographic mandate than FPF. Both organizations press for legal protections for journalists, maintain press-freedom indexes/databases, and engage in advocacy campaigns, making RSF the closest global-scale peer.

Emerging players

• WITNESS Media Lab: WITNESS is a 501(c)(3) that trains and equips human-rights advocates to use video and digital tools safely, including secure documentation and verification. Its focus on training activists and journalists in safe digital practice parallels FPF's Digital Security Education program.

Regional players

• Freedom of the Press Foundation (peer analogues: Index on Censorship): Index on Censorship is a U.K.-based press-freedom nonprofit that documents censorship cases, advocates for writers and journalists, and runs digital-security training. It is highly comparable to FPF in mission and program mix but operates primarily in the U.K./European context.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/FreedomofPress
• Facebookfacebook.com/FreedomOfThePressFoundation
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/3921796

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Freedom of the Press Foundation