Center for Democracy and Technology
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| Founded | December 1994 |
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| Founder | Jerry Berman, Janlori Goldman, Deirdre Mulligan, Jonah Seiger, Daniel Weitzner |
| Type | Non-profit organization |
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Key people
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President & Chief Executive Officer Nuala O'Connor |
| Website | cdt.org |
Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) is a Washington, D.C.-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to promote an open, innovative, and free Internet.
As an organization with expertise in law, technology, and policy, CDT works to preserve the unique nature of the Internet, enhance freedom of expression globally, protect fundamental rights of privacy, and stronger legal controls on government surveillance by finding practical and innovative solutions to public policy challenges while protecting civil liberties. CDT is dedicated to building consensus among all parties interested in the future of the Internet and other new communications media. In addition to its D.C. office, CDT has an office in San Francisco and a full-time presence in Brussels.
In 1994, CDT was founded by Jerry Berman, the former executive director and former policy director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The battle against applying the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) to the Internet - expanding law enforcement wiretapping capabilities by requiring telephone companies to design their networks to ensure a certain basic level of government access - spurred the creation of CDT in 1994. Recognizing a threat to privacy and innovation in CALEA's design mandates, CDT fought the passage of the CALEA and later worked to ensure that its implementation would not extend to the Internet. In the end, CALEA did not contain wiretapping design mandates for the Internet and required transparency surrounding design standards. Today, CDT leads a strong coalition that fights CALEA expansion, issuing reports by leading security experts that demonstrate how the FBI's latest wiretapping proposal would undermine cybersecurity. CDT's launch was assisted by seed donations from AT&T Corporation, Bell Atlantic, Nynex, Apple, and Microsoft.
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