European Digital Rights is an international advocacy group headquartered in Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

, Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

. EDRi was founded in June 2002 in Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

 by ten NGOs from seven countries.

Currently 27 privacy

Privacy

Privacy is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves and thereby reveal themselves selectively...

 and civil rights

Civil rights

Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...

 organisations from 17 different countries in Europe have EDRI membership. Members of European Digital Rights have joined forces to defend civil rights in the information society

Information society

The aim of the information society is to gain competitive advantage internationally through using IT in a creative and productive way. An information society is a society in which the creation, distribution, diffusion, use, integration and manipulation of information is a significant economic,...

. The need for cooperation among European organizations is increasing as more regulation regarding the internet

Internet

The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...

, copyright

Copyright

Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...

 and privacy

Privacy

Privacy is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves and thereby reveal themselves selectively...

 is originating from the European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

.

EDRi is financed by membership fees and donations from the general public. EDRi has a focus on privacy, security, copyright, governance

Governance

Governance is the act of governing. It relates to decisions that define expectations, grant power, or verify performance. It consists of either a separate process or part of management or leadership processes...

 and freedom of speech

Freedom of speech

Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used...

.

Its founding board members were Maurice Wessling from Bits of Freedom

Bits of Freedom

Bits Of Freedom is a Dutch digital rights organization, which focus on privacy and communications freedom in the digital age.-External links: * by Annie Machon about spy-related subjects...

, Andy Müller-Maguhn

Andy Müller-Maguhn

Andy Müller-Maguhn is a member of the German hacker association the Chaos Computer Club. He had been a member since 1986, and in 1990 was appointed as a spokesman for the club....

 from the Chaos Computer Club

Chaos Computer Club

The Chaos Computer Club is an organization of hackers. The CCC is based in Germany and other German-speaking countries.The CCC describes itself as "a galactic community of life forms, independent of age, sex, race or societal orientation, which strives across borders for freedom of...

 and Meryem Marzouki from Imaginons un réseau Internet solidaire.

EDRi publishes a bi-weekly newsletter about digital civil rights in Europe, EDRi-gram.