ExpressVPN
Rights Center
At ExpressVPN we believe digital rights are human rights, and we’re working to create a safer, freer internet for everyone. While our world becomes increasingly digital, people’s right to digital freedom has become more precarious.
Here is a look at how we work to protect those in need of more resources, protection, and/or support to ensure they enjoy their right to a safe, secure, and self-determined online experience.
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Digital rights
at ExpressVPN
ExpressVPN has been dedicated to building a safer, freer internet from the start—in fact, our goal at founding was to provide more effective and accessible censorship circumvention tools than had previously been available. Our belief in the digital rights of the individual has been the guiding light for our work for more than a decade.
Our commitment to protecting the vulnerable has directly informed the technologies we’ve created. It’s why we developed what we believe is the only VPN protocol built from the ground up to support obfuscation, which is critical in countries where censorship is rife. It’s also why we became the first major provider to engineer our VPN servers to run on RAM only because we understand all too well the risks of servers being seized—sometimes by state actors.
It’s now a given that people will participate in the digital elements of our society, but the necessity to engage online should not require people to automatically forfeit their fundamental human rights—including autonomy, community, dignity, and equality. Fundamentally, people should be able to control their own online experiences and choose how much information they share online.
For human rights defenders to do their work, they need a free and open internet. Yet, with web-based technologies central to communication, they face threats like government surveillance and internet shutdowns. Our product helps people better protect themselves from surveillance, circumvent censorship, and safeguard their rights. We know that this is crucial for activists, and we’ve worked directly with many organizations and activists to enable their work.
Over the last decade, we’ve seen in our close work with journalists and activists how critical it is to have access to tools for staying connected and protected. Free access to social media and the broader internet is crucial for citizens to connect, organize, and overcome oppression—and we exist to be part of the solution.
Industry leadership
and rights initiatives
Our product helps people better protect themselves from surveillance, circumvent censorship, and safeguard their rights. We know that this is crucial for activists, and we’ve worked directly with many organizations and activists to enable their work.
Here are some of the organizations we’ve supported or collaborated with recently:
Recent highlights
Partnership with The Cyber Helpline: a charitable organization dedicated to assisting those affected by online harm. Read more: ExpressVPN & The Cyber Helpline: Empowering victims of cybercrime
Partnership with UA.Support: The UA.Support project connects lawyers offering pro bono legal help with refugees from Ukraine seeking legal advice.
Advancing digital safety of activists: ExpressVPN hosted a workshop at RightsCon 2023 focused on advancing human rights through digital means. This event brought together human rights defenders from across the world to share their ideas on how technology can aid their efforts. Read more about it here.
Standing up to attempts to restrict internet privacy. Read more: Rejecting data demands, ExpressVPN removes VPN servers in India
While we’re proud of the work we do to safeguard digital rights, much of what we do to support oppressed communities and individuals must necessarily remain confidential for the safety of those at risk.
Support for activists
and journalists
Wars, conflicts, and turmoil—even elections and social progress—can all trigger attempts to increase censorship and restrictions on internet access. All around the world, we’re seeing attempts to control the flow of information, block free internet access, and erode online privacy. This is antithetical to our mission to ensure everyone has access to the free and open internet.
If you are an organizer or journalist in an oppressive situation who could benefit from secure, uncensored access to the internet, let us know how a VPN would help you by emailing safe@expressvpn.com using the button below:
Resources
We understand that the distinct risks that activists and journalists face require specialized support. To help address this, we have collated a range of resources to help you stay secure amid adversity.
Digital Security
Resource Library
Our Library offers guidance on accessible, affordable, and privacy-focused tools and resources for organizers and journalists:
We've also created simple guides on digital security for people arriving at borders and NGOs on the ground. They are one-page PDFs that are easy to print out and distribute.
- Digital safety guide for people at borders or in conflict zones (in English)
- Digital safety guide for people at borders or in conflict zones (in Ukrainian)
- Digital safety guide for organizers (in English)
- Digital safety guide for organizers (in Ukrainian)
Resources for going online with privacy, security, and freedom
We are committed to empowering people online and educating our community on ways of protecting their personal safety and online security. Below we’ve compiled the most relevant articles for people who need to safeguard their digital rights in challenging circumstances.
Know your basics
- What Is Internet Censorship?
- What is Cybersecurity? Definition and Types
- All about Tor, the Tor Browser, and the Dark Web
- The best messaging apps for privacy and security in 2024
- The safe browsing guide: 21 ways to protect yourself online
Protect yourself in more challenging situations
- 3 things activists can do to strengthen their privacy and security
- Whistleblowing guide: How to stay anonymous while blowing the whistle
- 3 lesser-known online privacy tools you should start using
- How to survive an internet shutdown
- Go incognito: Avoid surveillance in real life
From the front lines: Interviews and insights on digital rights and activism
- Interview: Meet the person protecting human rights activists amid mass surveillance
- Is this attack a hack… or hacktivism?
- Q&A: Alex Gladstein on smuggling forbidden media via USB sticks
- Government hacking: How countries surveil their own citizens
Free Cybersecurity 101 course
To make digital privacy even more accessible and attainable for anyone, we developed a course available to all on the online learning platform Udemy. Our course covers beginner-to-intermediate concepts and solutions for achieving greater online privacy, security, and anonymity. No prior knowledge or technical background is required.
Want to know about something specific? Send your questions to TechFriend
- Tech Friend is our advice column covering cybersecurity, privacy, and everyday technology. Email your question to techfriend@expressvpn.com (anonymous submissions welcome).
- Read TechFriend’s column
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