Localization Lab

Rapid Response Fund

The Rapid Response Fund aims to resolve threats in a timely manner for individuals, communities, and organizations facing digital attacks and emergencies. OTF offers both direct financial support and technical services to those at high-risk, such as cyber activists, bloggers, journalists, and human rights defenders.

About the Rapid Response Fund

OTF offers both technical services and direct financial support to high-risk individuals facing acute digital security emergencies or threats. Support is only available through this Fund when there is a clear and time-sensitive digital emergency in which an applicant is seeking short-term and urgent support. 

The Rapid Response Fund does not provide support for projects that are long-term in nature or that aim to build digital security capacity among groups or organizations. If you are interested in receiving support for longer term capacity building, please consider applying to OTF’s Internet Freedom Fund.

Technical Services from Trusted Partners

OTF works exclusively with community partners who are highly sensitive to and well-aware of the specific needs and challenges of human rights activists, journalists, and the internet freedom community. These partners regularly work with individuals and organizations who are subject to repressive regimes or vulnerable to malicious censorship and surveillance. To respond to requests as quickly as possible, OTF maintains open agreements with these partners to provide digital security audits and mentoring, urgent risk mitigation, organizational security improvements, forensic analysis of digital attacks, secure web hosting, and other related services.

Direct Financial Support

When Rapid Response applicants’ needs are not sufficiently covered by our service partners, OTF can provide financial support directly to activists, journalists, and related organizations to help prepare for or mitigate digital threats or emergencies, given applicants can demonstrate their capacity to do the required work.

Activities eligible for direct financial support include (but are not limited to):

  • providing circumvention solutions during censorship events;
  • providing personal digital protection for online journalists, human rights defenders, NGOs, activists, and bloggers;
  • rapid development of tools or translations needed to respond adequately to emergencies;
  • developing centralized, mobile internet applications that can link computers as an independent network (mesh or delay-tolerant networks);
  • and emergency patches

Any appropriate response to digital emergencies not listed above can be considered.

 

Application Process and Award Information

Application to the Fund is a single, straight-forward online form (whether you’re requesting services or direct financial support). We accept applications on a rolling basis.

Direct financial support awards are typically anywhere from $1 and $50,000 for a period of six months or less for individuals or groups carrying out relevant rapid response activities, although applications greater than this amount can be considered. Performance-based contracts are signed directly with the applicant or applicants. Funding is dispersed upon completion of stated objectives, activities, and deliverables per a schedule outlined in the contract. All payments are made in U.S. dollars and will comply with local laws, regulations, and ethics rules.

Successful applicants are paired with an OTF program manager who will oversee all project monitoring and evaluation for the duration of the contract. Monitoring and evaluation assessments are based on predetermined and agreed-upon metrics, deliverables, and goals as laid out by the applicant in the project proposal.

Work with Our Trusted Partners

OTF works exclusively with community partners who are highly sensitive to and well-aware of the specific needs and challenges of human rights activists, journalists, and the Internet freedom community. These partners regularly work with individuals and organizations who are subject to repressive regimes or vulnerable to malicious censorship and surveillance. To respond to requests as quickly as possible, OTF maintains open agreements with these partners to provide digital security audits and mentoring, urgent risk mitigation, organizational security improvements, forensic analysis of digital attacks, secure web hosting, and other related services.

Tierra Comun can provide the following services:

Organizational Security & Digital Security Support, including: 

  1. Digital security audits for organizations
  2. Urgent risk mitigation for organizations
  3. Rapid assessment and crisis response planning for organizations
  4. Organizational security improvements
  5. Digital security mentoring

Languages supported by Tierra Comun:

  • English
  • Spanish
Contact Information

Please reach out to this dedicated address for receiving and managing orders: [email protected]

Greenhost can provide the following services:

Web Hosting, including:

  • Clustered web hosting
  • Cloud platform
  • Deflect anti-DDoS protection
  • Infrastructure as a Service (IAAS)
  • Real-time Monitoring

Languages supported by Greenhost:

  • English
  • Arabic
  • French
  • Spanish
  • Mandarin

Contact Information
Please reach out to this dedicated address for rapid response requests: [email protected]

Qurium Media Foundation can provide the following services:

Organizational Security & Digital Security Support, including:

  • Digital security audits for organizations
  • Urgent risk mitigation for organizations
  • Rapid assessment and crisis response planning for organizations
  • Organizational security improvements
  • Digital security mentoring

Digital Attacks Response & Forensic Analysis, including:

  • Analysis of malicious mobile apps
  • Security Audits of web applications and systems
  • Forensic analysis of digital attacks
  • Recovery of compromised websites
  • Audit of compromised websites
  • Malware analysis
  • DDoS response and mitigation
  • Web application and website vulnerability assessments
  • Analysis of compromised mobile phones

Web Hosting, including:

  • Migration and onboarding support
  • Secure web hosting
  • Secure hosting, monitoring, and resiliency of websites during special events (elections, campaigns etc.)
  • Provision of human rights abuse documentation tools
  • Enabling access to blocked websites (e.g. website mirroring)

Connectivity Issues Response, including:

  • Establishing VPN servers during digital emergencies
  • Providing internet access alternatives during shutdowns/censorship events
  • Analysis of Internet disruption events
  • Network shutdown response

Languages supported by Qurium Media Foundation:

  • English
  • Spanish
  • French
  • Russian
  • Arabic
  • Swedish

Contact Information
The application form for Qurium Media Foundation is available here.

How to Apply

Applying for the Rapid Response Fund (whether services or direct financial support) is a simple, single-application form online.

Please review our Applicant Guidebook for additional information.

 

Application Review Process

We review the project’s necessity, appropriateness, risk, and legality.

Questions we ask to evaluate applications include:

  • Does the proposed effort address a clear digital emergency?
  • Is it a short-term effort?

Timeline:

We strive to review applications as quickly as possible, and make every effort to make a decision within five days of application submission.

Security & Privacy

OTF will make every effort possible to avoid disclosure of sensitive information beyond the OTF team. Should you have any questions or concerns regarding your application, please contact us immediately at [email protected].

Before applying, please review our Terms of Service. If you have any questions, please email us at [email protected].

Eligibility

Individuals or organizations (for profit or non-profit) of all ages irrespective of nationality, creed, or sex who are facing a digital emergency or threat are eligible to apply.

    We are not able to support applicants within countries that the United States has trade restrictions or export sanctions as determined by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control.

    Alternative Sources of Support

    Our Alternative Sources of Support contains funding sources which support efforts relevant to the fields of internet freedom, software development, journalism, and human rights, broadly speaking. Sources are organized by general subject matter. We’re always seeking to grow this resource and make it as useful and inclusive as possible, so if you know of a funding source that should be on here, please let us know by contacting us at [email protected].