Open Rights Group

What Open Rights Group does

Open Rights Group (ORG) is a UK non-profit company limited by guarantee (registered in England and Wales, no. 05581537) founded in 2005 and headquartered at Space4, 113-115 Fonthill Road, London, with an additional Edinburgh office. It is the UK's largest grassroots digital rights campaigning organisation, employing a 12-13 person staff team and operating a movement of 45,000+ activists across 11 UK towns and cities, governed by Jim Killock as Executive Director since January 2009 alongside a Board of Directors and Advisory Council.

ORG's core activities span policy campaigning, strategic litigation, coalition building, public education and grassroots mobilisation across five programmatic verticals: Online Safety and Free Expression, Migrant Digital Justice, Pre-Crime, Digital Sovereignty, and Data Protection. Its technical surface consists of a campaign management platform, email action tools, petition systems, and the proprietary 'Blocked' website checking tool, which has scanned 72 million websites. ORG delivers impact through five verified legal victories, sustained engagement with UK regulators such as the ICO, and adversarial action against major platforms including Meta, Google, IAB, and LiveRamp.

The organisation generates no commercial revenue; its income is sourced entirely from individual member fees, donations, corporate supporters, and grants. Distribution is domestic to the United Kingdom via website, email, WhatsApp, social media (Mastodon, Bluesky, Reddit, Threads, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, X), local group meetups, party conference presence, and earned media. ORG does not sell products or services and does not take on individual cases or provide legal advice.

Name

Open Rights Group

Legal name

Open Rights Group

Website

https://openrightsgroup.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Member Donations and Membership Fees: Open Rights Group is a non-profit organisation that relies on membership fees and donations from supporters to fund its campaigns and operations. The organisation has a supporter base that has doubled since 2009.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Open Rights Group is a UK non-profit campaigning organisation that advocates for digital rights through policy lobbying, strategic litigation, public education, and coalition building. It campaigns on issues including mass surveillance, online censorship, data protection, pre-crime technology, migrant digital justice, and children's online safety, while offering free tools such as the Blocked website checker to the general public.

Product overview

Open Rights Group (ORG) is a non-profit campaigning organization, not a technology product company. It does not offer commercial software products, SaaS platforms, or technology services. ORG operates as a digital rights advocacy organization that campaigns on issues including privacy, free speech, surveillance, data protection, online safety, and digital sovereignty. The organization maintains a website with informational content, publishes research and briefings, operates mailing lists for supporters, and provides tools such as a website checking tool (Blocked) for public use. ORG's activities are focused on advocacy, legal challenges, policy campaigning, and public education rather than commercial product or service delivery.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Blocked website checking tool Free public-facing tool that checks whether websites are likely to be blocked; has scanned 72 million websites and serves UK internet users concerned about online censorship.
• ORG Membership Paid recurring membership subscription that funds ORG's campaigning work and provides supporters with campaign updates and the ability to participate in digital rights advocacy.

Quantifiable outcome

• 5 legal victories won
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• Big Brother WatchcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCampaign partner in the Stop Killing the Internet coalition opposing government policies on children's online safety. ORG collaborates with Big Brother Watch on multiple digital rights campaigns including opposing mass surveillance and age verification requirements.
• Index on CensorshipcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCampaign partner in the Stop Killing the Internet coalition. Index on Censorship is a freedom of expression organisation that works with ORG on protecting online speech and opposing censorship measures.
• MozillaflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-signed an open letter organised by Open Rights Group warning that the UK's push for wider age-verification measures could damage the open web. Mozilla is a browser maker and privacy advocate.
• ProtonflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-signed the open letter on UK age verification. Proton is a privacy-focused company providing encrypted email and VPN services.
• Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational digital rights organisation that co-signed the open letter on age verification. EFF is a leading global advocate for digital rights.
• Tor ProjectflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-signed the open letter warning about UK age verification. Tor provides anonymous communication software and is a key digital rights organisation.
• ExpressVPNminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerVPN provider that co-signed the open letter on age verification concerns.
• TutaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrivacy-focused email provider that co-signed the open letter on UK age verification.
• Internet SocietyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal organisation focused on Internet standards and openness that co-signed the age verification letter.
• the3millioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCivil society group representing EU citizens in the UK that partnered with ORG to raise concerns about the Home Office's eVisa system and data quality errors affecting migrants.
• Migrants Rights NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOrganisation working on migrants' rights that partnered with ORG to highlight concerns about the eVisa scheme and data quality errors.
• Good Law ProjectcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLegal organisation that partnered with ORG to threaten the UK data regulator (ICO) with legal action over failure to act on over 220,000 data protection complaints.
• Cloisters ChambersminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerLegal chambers engaged by ORG to provide legal opinion on the Home Office's use of AI in asylum cases being likely unlawful.
• Doughty Street ChambersminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerLegal chambers providing expert legal opinion commissioned by ORG on the lawfulness of AI in asylum decision-making.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Big Brother Watch: UK civil liberties and privacy NGO that campaigns on surveillance, privacy, and digital rights. Directly comparable as a UK grassroots advocacy organisation with overlapping programme work; also a Stop Killing the Internet coalition partner of ORG.
• Privacy International: UK-based charity that litigates, litigates, and investigates government and corporate surveillance practices. Shares the UK/Europe digital-rights advocacy and strategic litigation model with ORG and targets many of the same UK regulators.
• Index on Censorship: UK free expression organisation that campaigns against online and offline censorship. Direct peer on free-expression and online speech campaigning; co-partner in the Stop Killing the Internet coalition with ORG.
• Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF): Leading international digital rights NGO working on privacy, free expression, and online speech issues. Direct peer in digital-rights mission, tools/petition infrastructure, and litigation; co-signed ORG's age-verification open letter.
• ARTICLE 19: International free-expression organisation that campaigns and litigates on digital speech and platform governance. Pam Cowburn (ORG's Head of Comms) previously consulted for ARTICLE 19, evidencing direct overlap; comparable mission on free expression online.

Broad incumbents

• Liberty: Long-established UK civil liberties NGO that litigates and campaigns on rights issues including digital surveillance and free speech. Broader remit than ORG but overlapping digital-rights portfolio; awarded ORG its 2012 Human Rights Campaigner of the Year.

Emerging players

• Mozilla Foundation: Internet health and online privacy advocacy arm of Mozilla. Comparable as a tech-aligned internet-freedom campaign partner; flagship ORG coalition partner on age verification and open web issues.
• NO2ID: UK campaign that successfully opposed ID cards and the National Identity Register. Direct peer on UK surveillance/data-protection campaigning; ORG's Platform Power manager previously led campaigns at NO2ID.
• Internet Society: Global non-profit promoting an open, accessible internet. Comparable as an internet-governance and standards advocate; co-signed ORG's age-verification open letter as a minor partner.
• Good Law Project: UK litigation-focused NGO that pursues strategic cases against government and regulators. Direct comparable on strategic litigation model; core partner that jointly threatened ICO action alongside ORG.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/openrightsgroup
• YouTubeyoutube.com/OpenRightsGroup
• Facebookfacebook.com/openrightsgroup
• LinkedInuk.linkedin.com/company/open-rights-group
• Instagraminstagram.com/OpenRightsGroup
• TikToktiktok.com/@openrightsgroup

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Open Rights Group