(BRUSSELS)–Two independent nonprofit grant-making organisations have awarded grants to the Centre for Democracy & Technology Europe (CDT). The first is a €100,000 award from Open Society Foundations (OSF) towards CDT Europe’s Security, Surveillance & Human Rights Program. The second grant of €30,000 has been awarded by Civitates for CDT Europe’s work on ensuring civil society participation and strong human rights safeguards in the implementation of the EU’s Digital Services Act.
On behalf of CDT Europe’s Board, the Chair Peter Hustinx, said:
“We are deeply grateful to OSF and Civitates for the recognition and support of our work. The OSF grant will bolster our crucial efforts on security, surveillance and human rights. As the Pegasus scandal demonstrated, our right to communicate securely underpins the pillars of democracy, including press freedom, the presumption of innocence, privacy and freedom of expression and association. These funds will strengthen our capacity to advocate to ensure that people are better protected against unlawful surveillance in Europe and beyond.
The Civitates award for our work on the EU Digital Services Act will help galvanise CDT Europe’s efforts in bringing civil society actors together to ensure that all voices are heard as this landmark legislation is implemented. It also acknowledges the value that CDT’s deep subject matter expertise has brought to these debates.’’
With these grants, CDT Europe will also research the effectiveness of the EU’s Dual Use Regulation on controlling the export of spyware. This work will contribute to the European Parliament’s Pegasus Inquiry and international debates on how best to protect international human rights through effective export controls on spyware. It will also help advance CDT Europe’s work on the EU’s Child Sexual Abuse Regulation to ensure the final law provides adequate safeguards to protect children’s rights and all users’ rights. CDT Europe will also be carrying out inter-institutional convenings around the implementation of the EU’s Digital Services Act.
- Mireille Hildebrandt, Professor Vrije Universiteit
- Peter Hustinx, Former European Data Protection Supervisor
- Morten Kjaerum, Former Director of EU Fundamental Rights Agency
- Alexandra Reeve Givens, President & CEO, Center for Democracy & Technology
CDT Europe was registered in 2019 as an international not-for-profit under Belgian law. A partner of CDT Global, it advocates for the promotion and protection of democracy and human rights in European tech law and policy.
Open Society Foundations, in cooperation with the Europe and Central Asia Program of the Open Society Foundations (OSF), is the world’s largest private funder of independent groups working for justice, democratic governance, and human rights.
Civitates is a philanthropic initiative for democracy and solidarity in Europe. It provides funding for civil society actors to come together, revitalise public discourse, and ensure that all voices are heard.
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