Privacy Activist Toolbox
The Privacy Activist Toolbox is a resource for anyone interested in becoming a better privacy rights activist, or anyone who wants to start advocating for privacy rights.
This page is also a resource to help digital rights organizations that would like to expand their work focusing on privacy.
By clicking on any of the tips listed on this page, you can access more information on each topic, as well as additional resources to support your advocacy.
Toolbox Compartments
Check Your Laws
1. Know your privacy laws
Being well-informed about the data protection regulations in your own jurisdiction can be a significant asset for your personal and collective battles to improve privacy, for yourself and for others. Learn more about what to look for when researching your local privacy laws.
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2. Report privacy violations
Once you become informed on your local privacy laws, get familiar with the process to report violations. Submitting an official complaint is often simple, and can have a significant impact for yourself and your community. Learn more about why and how you should report violations of your local privacy laws.
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Choose Your Tools
1. Beware of privacy snake oil
In your privacy advocacy, it's essential to use and recommend tools that reliably protect privacy. For this, you need to investigate and remain highly skeptical of any dangerous or unproven marketing claims. Learn more about how to evaluate privacy claims and recommend tools that are trustworthy.
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2. Migrate outside the surveillance ecosystem
As privacy activists, it's important to not only support the tools and organizations with good privacy practices, but to also lead by example when it comes to moving away from the surveillance ecosystem. Learn more about why and how to move away from "Big Tech" and embrace alternatives.
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3. Improve your social media and build resilient communities
Commercial social media platforms represent one of the biggest sources of data exploitation. By staying active on these platforms we continue to feed the beast, and indirectly support their invasion of our privacy rights. Learn more about how to minimize your presence there, and slowly build better social networks.
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Expand Your Perspective
1. Don't stop at individual solutions, consider the collective impact
When we think about our privacy, we often focus on the technical tools we can use. While this is indeed an important component, it's crucial not to lose sight of how regulations and invasive practices impact us collectively. Learn more about how to expand your perspective on data privacy.
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2. Keep in mind the whole landscape
Privacy isn't just about the tools, the laws, or the practices of any individual or organization. To move our society in a place where everyone benefits from privacy by default, we must consider technologies, laws, and culture holistically. Learn more about remembering to consider the whole landscape.
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3. Consider everyone's unique situation
Everyone has different needs and faces different dangers when their personal data is exposed. To give actionable privacy advice and recommendations, it's essential to keep in mind everyone's unique situation. Learn more about better evaluating each person's threat model.
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Support The Community
1. Lift your allies up
At times, it might feel like the privacy community is niche and isolated. The battle for privacy rights is difficult, and its defenders are often scattered. This is why it's essential that we support and uplift each other at every opportunity. Learn more about how to lift your allies up and grow the movement.
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2. Support your privacy comrades
Fighting for privacy rights is a collective endeavor. You cannot do it alone. Anyone around you contributing is fighting the same battle by your side. This battle can be difficult and isolating at time. This is why it's critical to care for each other. Learn more about how you can support your privacy comrades.
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3. Be kind to people, but be relentless with institutions
Kindness is essential for privacy advocates. To grow our movement, we must meet people from a place of camaraderie. People don't change their mind by being berated. However, this isn't true for institutions. Learn more about how to integrate kindness in your work, while being relentless with institutions.
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Build Alliances
1. Start alliances, not wars
The privacy community consists of a patchwork of individuals and organizations that sometimes hold quite different views. When these divergences lead to infighting, we need to ask how these internal wars are impacting our community negatively. Learn more about how to start alliances instead of wars.
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2. Value allies with expertise complementary to yours
In privacy, like everywhere else, diversity is a strength. If you want your community to have a broad understanding of threat models, and be able to fight on multiple levels, you need to value a diversity of expertises. Learn more about recognizing, respecting, and retaining experts with skills different to yours.
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3. Give credit where credit is due
To succeed, we must support each other. A good way to do this is to never forget to give credit where credit is due. When another advocate or organization says something you agree with, boost them up, spread their reach, and thank them publicly. Learn more about making your allies feel seen and valued.
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Make It Accessible
1. Welcome beginners
For our privacy rights movement to grow, we must bring more people in. To accomplish this, it's fundamental to discuss privacy in ways that are accessible to newcomers who aren't familiar with basic concepts yet. Learn more about improving your advocacy work to make it more approachable to beginners.
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2. Keep your posts and community inclusive
Inclusivity is not only the right thing to do, it's also essential to grow our movement. If we want privacy rights to succeed, it's imperative that we build communities where everyone feels safe and welcomed, regardless of who they are. Learn more about keeping your communications and communities inclusive.
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3. Be mindful of accessibility
Accessibility is indispensable to inclusivity, and should always be a priority in our work. To make our privacy communities welcoming to all, accessibility cannot be an afterthought. We must integrate it in our practice from the start. Learn more about improving the accessibility of your privacy work.
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4. Make it cute
If you are developing a privacy-focused application or website, do not neglect the design aspect of it. This is a common mistake that can have a significant negative impact on adoption by a general audience. Learn more about making your design appealing and accessible to all. Make it cute!
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Uphold Integrity
1. Refuse to participate
As privacy advocates and activists, it's important to be a voice for resistance and take a stand against abusive practices. One substantial way to do this is to refuse to participate in privacy-intrusive requests, or use invasive software. Learn more about refusing to comply with privacy-abusive practices.
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2. Stay true to your principles
If you manage a digital rights group or organization, make sure you aren't subjecting your contributors to the very privacy-invasive tech you're fighting against. Sadly, it's not rare to see communities that aren't following their own advice for internal practices. Learn more about the importance of maintaining integrity internally as well as externally.
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3. Protect your allies
Through your privacy work, be careful to never collect or share the data of others without their explicit consent. It's crucial to protect your allies' data in all that you do, whether that's individual action or organizational leadership. Learn more about safeguarding the data of your privacy comrades.
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Stay Persistent
1. Small actions matter
There is so much to do in the movement for better privacy rights. So much, that it's sometimes easy to feel discouraged when facing the scale of what's left to accomplish. But everything helps, and even the smallest action counts. Learn more about why every action and every victory matters, no matter how small.
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2. Take time to rest, but come back to fight with us
The battle for privacy rights will be a long one. This isn't a sprint, it's a marathon. If you want to be a good advocate, you must take the time to rest when needed. Burning out isn't an option, we cannot afford to lose your precious contribution! Learn more about why it's fundamental to learn to rest when you need it.
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Take Action!
1. Engage, boost, and contribute
Once you have the knowledge, motivation, and energy, it's time to act! Perhaps you've read all of these tips, or read through our Knowledge Base already! But you don't need to know that much about privacy to start contributing. Learn more about how to start being a privacy activist.
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2. Level up! Assemble and organize
If you've been a privacy advocate for a while, maybe it's time to level up and grow as a leader in your community. Becoming a leader can mean starting a local group, or initiating bigger projects online. Learn more about how to become a good leader in the privacy rights movement.
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