Prison Insider

What Prison Insider does

Prison Insider is a French non-profit association (association loi 1901) founded in 2015 and headquartered in Lyon, operating an open-access, trilingual (French, English, Spanish) web platform that aggregates, structures, and disseminates information on prison conditions and penal policies worldwide. Its core products include country profiles (Fiches-pays) covering 200+ nations and territories, the Prison Life Index — a composite indicator published December 5, 2024, built from 61 indicators across 5 dimensions of detention conditions — an interactive country comparison tool, in-depth thematic dossiers (covering mental health, climate, colonial legacy, green prisons, and related topics), written and video testimonials from incarcerated individuals and relatives, the InsideOutside photographic correspondence project, expert interviews, multimedia portfolios, and a monthly PANORAMA newsletter. The technology stack is a web-based content platform with multilingual support; no AI/ML capabilities are disclosed.

The organization serves five primary persona segments: the general public and human rights advocates, researchers and academics, legal professionals, journalists, and civil society NGOs. Content is produced through a global network of contributor organizations including SOS Prisonniers Gabon, OIP-SF (the founding partner), Addameer, Centre de documentation sur les prisons cubaines, UNICRI, and ICPR (Birkbeck). Reach indicators include 36,000 monthly website visits, coverage in 52 international media outlets (Le Monde, Mediapart, BuzzFeed, France 24), and citation in UN Committee Against Torture state examinations and legal proceedings.

Prison Insider operates as a free-access platform funded primarily by individual donations, with a 66% tax deduction available to French donors via HelloAsso. A secondary funding stream targets corporate and foundation partnerships ([email protected]). The organization has 39 employees and is governed by its founding team led by Bernard Bolze, who previously founded the Observatoire international des prisons in 1990. Revenue is not disclosed; no venture capital or private equity backing is present.

Name

Prison Insider

Legal name

Prison Insider

Website

https://prison-insider.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Prison Insider is a Lyon-based French non-profit association founded in 2015 that operates a trilingual open-access web platform publishing country profiles, the Prison Life Index, and testimonials on prison conditions across 200+ countries, serving researchers, journalists, legal professionals, and human-rights advocates.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Prison Information Platform

NAICS

Correctional Institutions (922140), Libraries and Archives (519210), Justice, Public Order, and Safety Activities (9221)

akta.pro primary industry

Adult Corrections (Prisons & Jails) (BPAIAFAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Community Corrections (Probation, Parole & Reentry) (BPAIAFAE)

Keywords

• Prison information platform
• Human rights documentation
• Detention conditions research
• Multilingual news content
• Nonprofit advocacy media

Headquarters

HQ city

Lyon

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Donations and Membership: Prison Insider operates as a nonprofit association funded primarily through donations. The platform is free-access, with revenue coming from supporter donations. In France, donations benefit from 66% tax reduction. The organization also mentions the possibility of regular (recurring) donations as an alternative to one-time contributions.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Prison Insider is a free-access multilingual (French, English, Spanish) information platform that documents prison conditions and detention policies worldwide through structured country profiles, the proprietary Prison Life Index (61 indicators across 5 dimensions), an interactive comparison tool, thematic dossiers, first-person testimonials, expert interviews, and photographic projects. Content is funded by donations with 66% tax deductibility for French donors and serves a global audience of researchers, journalists, legal professionals, civil society organizations, and the general public.

Product overview

Prison Insider is an open-access multilingual (French, English, Spanish) information platform dedicated to documenting and disseminating information about prisons worldwide. The platform operates as a unified information service rather than a software product, consisting of interconnected content sections: Fiches-pays (country profiles with structured detention condition data), the Prison Life Index (a composite index evaluating fundamental rights compliance using 61 indicators across 5 dimensions), an Outil de comparaison (comparison tool for cross-country analysis), Dossiers thématiques (thematic in-depth papers), Témoignages (written and video testimonials), InsideOutside (photographic correspondence project), Interviews with specialists, Regards (multimedia insights), and Portfolios (photographic documentation). The platform aggregates press reviews and offers a monthly PANORAMA newsletter. Revenue is generated through donations with 66% tax deductibility in France.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Prison Life Index: A composite index published December 5, 2024 that evaluates respect for fundamental rights of detained persons by states, based on 61 indicators across 5 dimensions.
• InsideOutside
• PANORAMA

Products and services

• Fiches-pays (Country Profiles) Country profiles providing precise and structured data on detention conditions for 200+ countries and territories. Each profile includes key statistics and detailed assessments of prison conditions, essential for defending rights in prison settings.
• Prison Life Index A composite index published December 5, 2024, evaluating the respect of fundamental rights of detained persons by States. Built from 61 indicators related to detention conditions, divided into 5 dimensions, and constructed from major international instruments on detention conditions.
• Outil de comparaison (Comparison Tool) An interactive tool allowing users to compare detention conditions data across different countries. Users select countries and comparison indicators to access comprehensive information and deepen research on specific themes or geographic regions.
• Dossiers thématiques (Thematic Papers) In-depth thematic explorations examining specific aspects of detention conditions across multiple countries. Topics include prison conditions for death row inmates, COVID-19 consequences, mental health care, colonial legacy of prison systems, climate change impacts, and housing challenges for released persons.
• InsideOutside A photographic correspondence project between photographer Bertrand Gaudillère and approximately 10 incarcerated individuals worldwide. From 2017 to 2021, monthly photographs were sent to participants who responded with texts about their sensory experiences of imprisonment. The project was transformed into a book published by Libel in December 2023.
• Témoignages (Testimonials) Written and video testimonies from incarcerated individuals and their relatives, providing first-person accounts of detention experiences. Includes a 6-episode docuseries on the invisible impact of prison on families, produced with six partner NGOs across Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France, Mexico, and the UK.
• Interviews Expert interviews with specialists on prison-related topics, offering original perspectives on themes including prison conditions, human rights, and criminal justice reform.
• Regards (Insights) Multimedia content featuring photographs, videos, graphic artworks, and artistic initiatives that provide depth and meaning to the organization's work, offering perspectives on imprisonment through various creative lenses. Includes the podcast 'Ensemble derrière les barreaux'.
• Portfolios Photography portfolios by photographers documenting imprisonment, providing visual narratives of detention through singular artistic perspectives.
• PANORAMA Newsletter Monthly newsletter delivered to subscribers' email inboxes, containing recent publications, latest prison news from around the world, organizational interventions, and events to follow.

Quantifiable outcome

• 36,000 monthly website visits from global audience
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Acifad (Argentina)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 October 2025Partner in the docuseries 'Connecting Stories Beyond Bars - The invisible impact of prison on relatives', a 6-episode documentary series exploring the effects of incarceration on families.
• Amparar (Brazil)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 October 2025Partner in the docuseries 'Connecting Stories Beyond Bars - The invisible impact of prison on relatives', contributing to the production of documentary content on prison's impact on relatives.
• Relais Famille (Canada)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 October 2025Partner in the docuseries 'Connecting Stories Beyond Bars - The invisible impact of prison on relatives', providing expertise on family impact of incarceration.
• OIP-SF (France)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 October 2025Partner in the docuseries 'Connecting Stories Beyond Bars' on the invisible impact of prison on relatives. OIP-SF is also the founding organization of Prison Insider.
• Documenta (Mexico)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 October 2025Partner in the docuseries 'Connecting Stories Beyond Bars - The invisible impact of prison on relatives', contributing to the Mexican perspective on prison conditions.
• POPS (UK)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 October 2025Partner in the docuseries 'Connecting Stories Beyond Bars - The invisible impact of prison on relatives', providing UK perspective on prison conditions and family impact.
• Yannick BaillycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Graphic designer who collaborated on the InsideOutside book published by Libel editions in December 2023, transforming the photographic correspondence project into a published work.
• Bertrand GaudillèrecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Photographer from the 'item' collective who leads the InsideOutside photographic correspondence project with prisoners worldwide. Produces monthly images sent to approximately 10 participants in detention.
• Fondation Abbé Pierre / FEANTSA / Avocats sans FrontièresminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrison Insider content was cited in the report 'Sans-abris, non coupable: mettre fin à la criminalisation du sans abrisme en Europe' published by these organizations.
• UNICRI / Penal Reform InternationalminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrison Insider contributed content to 'Green prisons: A guide to creating environmentally sustainable prisons' published by UNICRI and Penal Reform International.
• Université de BirminghamminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrison Insider information was cited in 'Prison Administration Responses to the Climate Crisis' research paper from the University of Birmingham.
• RescaledminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Rescaled for the 'Quartier libre' thematic dossier exploring the relationship between cities and prisons, with various actors providing perspectives.
• ICPR (Institute for Crime and Justice Policy Research, Birkbeck)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated with Prison Insider for the 'Prison everywhere' project on the use of imprisonment around the world, documenting daily life of prisoners during Covid-19.
• HelloAssominorOthersPlatform used for accepting donations through the association's page on HelloAsso.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Howard League for Penal Reform: UK-based penal reform charity working on prison conditions, sentencing, and community sanctions. Comparable in mission and advocacy orientation, with similar reliance on research, public campaigns, and policy influence rather than direct service delivery.
• Penal Reform International: Global NGO headquartered in London advocating for criminal justice reform and humane prison conditions worldwide. Highly comparable to Prison Insider as both produce international policy research, country-level reporting, and advocacy toolkits on detention conditions and fundamental rights compliance.
• Prison Reform Trust: UK charity advocating for better treatment of prisoners and reform of the justice system. Similar advocacy and information-provision model, producing research briefings and campaigning on prison conditions.
• Observatoire International des Prisons (OIP-SF): French prison watchdog organization founded by Prison Insider's own founder Bernard Bolze in 1990. Direct peer in mission, methodology, and target audiences, with OIP focused primarily on French prisons while Prison Insider extends the model internationally and multilingually.
• International Corrections and Prisons Association (ICPA): Global association bringing together correctional professionals, governments, and NGOs to share best practices. Operates in the same corrections-policy space with a more practitioner-oriented focus versus Prison Insider's human-rights framing.
• World Prison Brief (Institute for Crime and Justice Policy Research, Birkbeck): Academic database hosted at Birkbeck, University of London, providing comparative data on prison systems across 200+ jurisdictions. Closest like-for-like data competitor to the Prison Life Index and Prison Insider's country profiles, with a similar global coverage footprint.

Broad incumbents

• Vera Institute of Justice: US-based research and policy nonprofit working on criminal justice reform with a much larger footprint ($100M+ budget). Overlaps in prison conditions research and advocacy but covers the broader justice system spectrum.
• ACLU National Prison Project: Larger US program within the ACLU dedicated to prisoners' rights litigation and policy reform. Comparable in advocacy goals around detention conditions but operates primarily through US-focused litigation rather than international information dissemination.
• Human Rights Watch (Prison Conditions Program): Major international human rights organization with an established thematic program on prison conditions globally. Comparable in producing authoritative reports and country-level documentation, with substantially greater resources and institutional reach.

Regional players

• Families Outside (Scotland): Scottish charity supporting families of people in prison, with content and resources similar in spirit to Prison Insider's new docuseries on the invisible impact of prison on relatives. Operates at a national level rather than internationally.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/PrisonInsider
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/prison-insider
• Instagraminstagram.com/prisoninsider

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles18 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 Prison Insider