Digitale Gesellschaft

What Digitale Gesellschaft does

Digitale Gesellschaft is a Swiss nonprofit association (Verein) founded in 2010 and based in Basel, dedicated to digital rights, privacy protection, and opposition to mass surveillance. The organization serves Swiss residents and policymakers through a combination of advocacy, legal action, public education, and community organizing. It operates under a community-led membership model with approximately 100 active and honorary members supporting its work, supplemented by donations and crowdfunding campaigns.

The organization produces a portfolio of digital tools and content rather than a unified software product. Privacy infrastructure includes a public DNS-over-TLS/HTTPS resolver, Tor exit servers in Switzerland, and Anonip, an open-source log-file anonymization tool for website operators. Advocacy tools include Datenauskunftsbegehren.ch, a generator that helps individuals file data-access requests against companies and organizations. Content products include the monthly Netzpodcast (digital policy podcast), the 'Update' newsletter, dossiers on E-Voting, E-ID, biometric identification, automated decision systems (ADMS/AI), net neutrality, tracking/profiling, and data retention, plus educational guides on digital self-defense ('Selbstverteidigung') and digital sustainability ('Nachhaltigkeit').

The revenue model is subscription-recurring membership dues combined with donations. Tiers include regular membership at CHF 75/year, reduced at CHF 25/year, patron at CHF 250/year, and lifetime at CHF 1,500; the organization also accepts donations via bank transfer, Twint, credit card, cryptocurrency, and cash, including wage-donation arrangements. Notable strategic positioning includes a pending complaint at the European Court of Human Rights against Swiss data retention, active legislative engagement on E-ID and E-Collecting, and recurring event programming (Winterkongress, Netzpolitischer Abend, Datenschutz-Festival).

Name

Digitale Gesellschaft

Legal name

Digitale Gesellschaft

Website

https://digitale-gesellschaft.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Digitale Gesellschaft is a Swiss nonprofit association (Verein) based in Basel that advocates for digital rights and privacy protection, serving Swiss residents and policymakers through legal action, privacy infrastructure, policy dossiers, and community events, funded primarily by individual memberships and donations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Rights Advocacy

NAICS

Human Rights Organizations (813311)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Digital Rights, Privacy & Free Expression Advocacy (BPAGAFAL)

Keywords

• Digital rights advocacy
• Privacy protection services
• Data retention opposition
• Nonprofit association
• Network policy

Headquarters

HQ city

Basel

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Annual membership fees providing core funding for the organization's digital rights advocacy work in Switzerland.
2. Donations and Sponsorships: One-time and recurring donations from supporters. The organization accepts donations via bank transfer, Twint, credit card, cryptocurrency, and cash. Wage donations are also available.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Digitale Gesellschaft is a Swiss nonprofit association that advocates for civil liberties and freedom rights in a networked world through legal challenges, policy campaigns, public education, and community events. In addition to advocacy, the organization operates a small portfolio of privacy tools (Datenauskunftsbegehren data access request generator, public DNS-over-TLS/HTTPS resolvers, Anonip log anonymization, and Tor servers) and produces educational content including the Netzpodcast, Update newsletter, and guides on digital self-defense and digital sustainability.

Product overview

Digitale Gesellschaft is a Swiss non-profit digital rights organization (Verein) that advocates for civil liberties and freedom rights in a networked world. The organization does not offer a unified software product but provides several digital tools, services, and educational resources: Datenauskunftsbegehren (a data access request generator), Öffentliche DNS-Resolver (privacy-focused DNS service), Anonip (log anonymization tool), and Tor-Server infrastructure. The organization also produces content including the Netzpodcast (digital policy podcast) and the monthly Update Newsletter, along with educational guides on digital self-defense and digital sustainability. The organization focuses on advocacy campaigns, legal actions (including EGMR complaints against data retention), policy positions on topics such as E-Voting, E-ID, mass surveillance, and tracking/profiling.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Filed complaint at European Court of Human Rights against Swiss data retention laws

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Stiftung für direkte DemokratiecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 June 2026Joint advocacy coalition for E-Collecting digital signature collection legislation. Both organizations welcomed the parliament's decision to allow digital signature collection for referendums and popular initiatives, and jointly called for implementation guidelines emphasizing data minimization, decentralization, open source, and accessibility.
• AG NDG (NGO Alliance on Intelligence Service Law)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 June 2026Coalition of NGOs opposing the revision of the Intelligence Services Act (NDG) that would expand mass surveillance. The alliance called on parliament to reject the proposal, arguing it violates fundamental rights and criminalizes political engagement.
• Prototype Fund SwitzerlandminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 September 2025Collaboration on digital sufficiency event, discussing environmental impacts of AI and sustainable digitalization solutions. Prototype Fund teams present open-source projects for reducing ecological footprint.
• CampaxcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 August 2025Campaign partnership with Campax to collect over 15,000 signatures against the VÜPF (surveillance ordinance) tightening. Joint petition delivery to Federal Councilor Beat Jans demanding immediate stop to surveillance expansion plans.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF): Leading US-based digital rights nonprofit that combines legal advocacy, policy work, and technology development. Far larger in scale, but operates the same hybrid advocacy-plus-tools model (privacy tools, litigation, public education) that Digitale Gesellschaft emulates.
• Access Now: International digital rights organization with policy, advocacy, and technical programs. Larger in scope and geography, but directly comparable in mission around privacy, surveillance, and freedom of expression.

Direct peers

• European Digital Rights (EDRi): European network of digital rights NGOs coordinating advocacy across EU member states. Directly comparable in mission, advocacy methods, and policy focus on surveillance, data protection, and digital rights legislation.
• La Quadrature du Net: French digital rights advocacy group focused on civil liberties in the digital age. Operates similar community-led advocacy model with comparable focus on surveillance, copyright, and net neutrality policy.
• Chaos Computer Club Schweiz: Swiss affiliate of the Chaos Computer Club focused on hacker culture, IT security, and digital rights. Already identified as a partner of Digitale Gesellschaft, it operates in the same Swiss nonprofit space with overlapping advocacy and technical infrastructure activities.
• Bits of Freedom: Dutch digital rights foundation advocating for privacy and freedom on the internet. Small, member-supported nonprofit with similar organizational structure, policy dossier approach, and focus on surveillance and data protection reform.
• Stiftung für direkte Demokratie: Swiss foundation promoting direct democracy through digital tools, including E-Collecting. Active coalition partner of Digitale Gesellschaft on legislative campaigns; both organizations serve as Swiss civil society voices on digital policy reforms.
• Datenrecht.ch: Swiss platform providing data access request services and privacy guidance. Operates in the same Swiss privacy advocacy niche, with overlapping educational and tool-based offerings for Swiss residents.
• Digitale Freiheit (formerly AK Vorrat): Austrian digital rights coalition opposing mass surveillance and data retention, with parallel advocacy on E-Government privacy. Direct regional peer serving a German-speaking neighbor with similar policy agenda.

Others

• Open Knowledge Foundation: International nonprofit promoting open data and civic technology. Operates in adjacent digital civil society space with overlapping interest in transparency, open source, and democratic digital infrastructure.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/DigitaleGesellschaftCH
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/digitale-gesellschaft
• Instagraminstagram.com/digiges_ch

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 Digitale Gesellschaft