Privacy By Design Foundation

What Privacy By Design Foundation does

Privacy by Design Foundation is a Dutch non-profit foundation (stichting) established on October 25, 2016, that owns and stewards the trademarks for two open-source products: Yivi, a digital identity wallet, and PubHubs, a privacy-respecting social platform. Its stated mission is to advance privacy-by-design principles in digital identity and communication infrastructure in the public interest. It serves Dutch municipalities, public-interest organizations, and end users seeking privacy-preserving digital services, with primary geographic focus in the Netherlands and broader European ambitions aligned with the EU digital identity wallet initiative.

The foundation does not perform technical development in-house. Instead, it licenses trademarks and coordinates product stewardship through external development partners. The core technology underlying Yivi originated at Radboud University (the IRMA lineage). From 2019 to 2024, SIDN, the Dutch internet domain foundation, acted as the primary development partner; in 2024 this role transitioned to Caesar Groep. The foundation itself maintains no paid staff—its board is composed entirely of unpaid members—and it is structurally a non-commercial entity.

End-user products are open source and free. Operational funding, where it exists, flows through partnership arrangements and public-interest grants rather than commercial pricing. Named adopters and partners include Gemeente Nijmegen (a Dutch municipality), Stichting CIS, PostGuard, and PubHubs itself as a deployed platform. The foundation's regulatory positioning—its work has demonstrably informed the direction of the EU's digital identity wallet program—is among its most material intangible assets, though this is influence rather than contracted revenue.

Name

Privacy By Design Foundation

Legal name

Stichting Privacy by Design

Website

https://privacybydesign.foundation

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Privacy by Design Foundation is a Dutch non-profit (stichting) that stewards the Yivi digital identity wallet and PubHubs privacy-respecting social platform trademarks, serving Dutch municipalities, public-interest organizations, and end users across Europe.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Identity

NAICS

Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

SIC

Finance Services (6199)

akta.pro primary industry

Private Foundations (BPAGAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Verifiable Credentials & Attestations (VC issuance/verification, credential registries) (FSAPACAH), Digital Wallet Platforms (Consumer & Merchant) (BPAMAFAC)

Keywords

• Digital identity wallet
• Attribute-based authentication
• Privacy-preserving authentication
• Decentralized identity management
• Open-source identity platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Nijmegen

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Foundation Operations: The Privacy by Design Foundation is a non-profit organization that does not have employees. Operations are managed through partnerships. The foundation owns the trademark rights to Yivi and PubHubs and collaborates with partners for development and management. The foundation appears to operate on a non-commercial basis focused on public interest objectives.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The foundation owns and governs the Yivi digital identity wallet, a free, open-source, decentralized app that lets users authenticate online and sign documents by disclosing only the specific verified attributes required (for example, being over 18). All personal attributes are stored exclusively on the user's own device. The foundation also owns the PubHubs trademark for an open-source, privacy-protecting social networking prototype developed at Radboud University for organizations such as educational institutions, healthcare providers, governments, patient federations, cultural institutions, and sports clubs. The foundation has no paid employees and operates through partnerships with Caesar Groep (since 2024) and Radboud University.

Product overview

Privacy by Design Foundation operates a dual-product portfolio centered on privacy-preserving digital identity and secure online communication. The core offering is the Yivi App, a decentralized digital identity wallet for attribute-based authentication and digital signatures. The secondary product is PubHubs, an open-source social platform for trusted online interactions. The Foundation owns the trademarks for both products and manages their development through strategic partnerships, with Caesar Groep handling Yivi development since 2024 and Radboud University developing PubHubs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Yivi: Digital identity wallet app enabling privacy-friendly attribute-based authentication and digital signatures. Originally developed at Radboud Universiteit under the name IRMA (I Reveal My Attributes). The foundation owns the trademark rights.
• PubHubs

Products and services

• Yivi App A free, open-source, decentralized digital identity wallet app that enables privacy-friendly attribute-based authentication and attribute-based digital signatures. Users can reveal specific verified attributes about themselves (for example, being over 18) without disclosing other irrelevant personal information, and use these attributes to log in to web pages and sign documents. All personal data and attributes are stored exclusively on the user's own phone or tablet.
• PubHubs An open-source, privacy-protecting social networking platform prototype (Public Hubs) developed at Radboud University. It is designed to provide trusted online environments for organizations such as educational institutions, healthcare providers, governments, patient federations, cultural institutions, and sports clubs to communicate with their members or constituencies, balancing privacy and accountability.

Quantifiable outcome

• Yivi is a forerunner to wallet apps for digital identities that will be introduced across Europe from 2026

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Caesar GroepcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Since 2024, Caesar Groep manages and further develops Yivi in close cooperation with the foundation. The partnership contract stipulates that Caesar may use the Yivi brand and develop it as part of their business activities, under conditions that Yivi remains open source, privacy-friendly, secure (with European hosting), and free for end users. Strategic decisions about Yivi are made jointly.
• SURF/NpulsminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Peter Eikelboom, board member of Privacy by Design Foundation, is product owner of the eduwallet at SURF/Npuls. The team investigates what a wallet with digital identity and credentials can mean for education (and the labor market). SURF/Npuls explores educational applications of digital identity wallets.
• SIDNcoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2016SIDN (Stichting Internet Domeinregistratie Nederland) is the foundation responsible for registration of web domains in the Netherlands. Collaboration from 2016-2024 for management and development of the Yivi app. SIDN handles registration of new Yivi users and runs the Yivi keyshare server. SIDN stores minimal user data (random username/app-ID, optional email, limited usage logs).
• Radboud Universiteit NijmegencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerYivi was originally developed at Radboud University. Several board members (including Chairman Bart Jacobs) are affiliated with the university. The university hosts PubHubs development and maintains close ties with the foundation. Jean Popma was formerly ICT manager and Security Officer at the university.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Microsoft Entra Verified ID: Microsoft's verifiable credentials and decentralized identity offering built on open standards. Directly comparable to Yivi as a verifiable credential wallet targeting enterprise and government use cases, though operated by a hyperscale incumbent rather than a foundation.
• IDEMIA: Global leader in government-grade digital identity and biometric authentication, including mobile ID wallets for European governments. Comparable to Yivi as a provider of identity wallet technology used for citizen authentication, though at much larger scale and with proprietary rather than open-source architecture.
• Thales Digital Identity (including Gemalto legacy): Major digital identity and security vendor providing government-issued digital ID wallets and verifiable credential solutions across Europe. Directly comparable to Yivi for citizen identity use cases, though operating as a large commercial vendor rather than a non-profit foundation.

Others

• SURF: Dutch collaborative organization for ICT in education and research, partner of the foundation via the eduwallet initiative. Relevant as an ecosystem enabler exploring digital identity wallets for the Dutch education sector.
• SIDN: Dutch foundation responsible for .nl domain registration and former Yivi development partner (2019-2024). Strongly connected to Privacy by Design Foundation through the previous partnership, and continues to operate identity-related infrastructure relevant to the Dutch identity ecosystem.

Emerging players

• Indicio: Open-source decentralized identity and verifiable credential platform. Comparable to Yivi in its open-source philosophy and focus on privacy-preserving identity, though serving primarily North American government and enterprise customers.
• Dock Labs: Provider of verifiable credential infrastructure and decentralized identity solutions. Comparable to Yivi as an issuer/verifier of verifiable credentials, though targeting enterprise customers with a commercial SaaS model rather than foundation-backed open source.
• SPRIND (Bundesagentur für Sprunginnovationen) EUDI pilots: German federal innovation agency running European Digital Identity Wallet pilots with privacy-preserving architecture. Comparable to Yivi as a public-interest-backed effort to shape EU wallet implementations, though with significantly larger government funding.
• Trinsic: Verifiable credential network and wallet platform with an open-source ecosystem. Directly comparable to Yivi as a digital wallet and credential infrastructure provider, though operating as a venture-backed US company rather than a Dutch foundation.

Regional players

• itsme: Belgian digital identity wallet widely used for government and private-sector authentication. Comparable to Yivi as a national-scale European citizen identity wallet, though operating commercially in Belgium and recently expanding into other EU countries.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/privacy-by-design-foundation

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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