Member in the Spotlight: Electronic Frontier Norway
Electronic Frontier Norway is working for digital rights, such as freedom of speech, privacy, freedom from surveillance, open standards, public access to publicly funded research and data, user-controlled software and the right to copy.
Today we get to know more about our Norwegian member Electronic Frontier Norway (EFN), which has been part of the EDRi network as a member since 2017.
Electronic Frontier Norway Q&A
1. Who are you and what is your organisation’s goal and mission?
EFN works to safeguard civil and human rights in the digital society. EFN promotes a vigilant and continuous debate that influences technology development and use in the spirit of openness, knowledge sharing, democratic participation, as well as individual and collective freedom and rights.
2. How did it all begin, and how did your organisation develop its work?
EFN was initiated as a discussion mailing list by Micha Reisel in 1990 (efn-listen). In 1995, EFN was established as a formal member organisation with a board and bylaws.
EFN made a breakthrough in national media around 2001-2002 because of the “DVD Jon” court case. Jon Lech Johansen was sued and arrested for decrypting a DVD copy control system to view DVDs on the Linux operating system and for making the program that enabled this available on the internet.
Since the mid 2010s, we have shifted our focus to the European level, as we can have a greater impact theretogether with our partners in the EDRi network. Today, we are active both nationally and in the EU/EEA.
3. The biggest opportunity created by advancements in information and communication technology is…
… the possibility for everyone to communicate and collaborate with anybody across the planet, which creates new opportunities for civic engagement and democracy.
4. The biggest threat created by advancements in information and communication technology is…
… the use of technology to subvert human rights protections, such as through surveillance or abuse of tech.
5. Which are the biggest victories/successes/achievements of your organisation?
The mentioned DVD Jon court case had created a lot of visibility for EFN and our cause throughout society.
We have also celebrated our 30th anniversary in 2025, making us one of the oldest digital rights organizations in Europe.
6. If your organisation could now change one thing in your country, what would that be?
Increase the awareness for digital rights and especially how European legislation impacts them. Despite not being a member of the EU, the largest part of legislation on technology in Norway is impacted by EU regulations. Public debate on EU laws, however, is extremely rare. This leads to rules being applied in Norwaywithout a proper public debate beforehand.
7. What is the biggest challenge your organisation is currently facing in your country?
Among political decision-makers, we are facing both a lack of awareness of digital rights and of the need for a strong civil society on human rights in the digital age.
Internally, we are continually working on increasing our visibility and impact. We believe that the ever increasing range of issues makes it necessary for EFN to professionalize, for which we are currently lacking proper funding.
8. How can one get in touch with you if they want to help as a volunteer, or donate to support your work?
We are always looking for new members and donations. If you want to volunteer, just send an email to .
Discover more about EFN
