D3 - Digital Rights

D3 - Defesa dos Direitos Digitais (commonly shortened to D3, and rendered in English as D3 - Digital Rights) is a Portuguese non-profit association founded on 22 March 2017 whose mission is the defence of fundamental rights and freedoms in the digital context. Its stated aims include safeguarding freedom of choice and autonomy, privacy, and free access to information, knowledge and culture, framing digital rights advocacy as a way of strengthening the self-correcting mechanisms of a democratic rule-of-law state. It is registered as a private-law non-profit association under the Portuguese tax number NIPC 514339934 and describes itself as "a small but active non-profit association" whose work is sustained by the effort and dedication of its members; as of its own account it has more than 75 associados (members). The organisation positions itself as "the frontline of digital rights in Portugal". Its activity consists mainly of writing and publishing texts, running campaigns, issuing press releases and speaking with journalists, meeting politicians and public bodies, contributing to legislative processes, filing complaints and public-information access requests, and cooperating with international peer organisations. Its thematic portfolio has included copyright reform and its censorship filters, Internet neutrality and zero rating, contact-tracing applications, public-space video surveillance, privacy and encryption of citizens' communications, retention of telecommunications metadata, electronic voting, and Internet regulation more broadly (platform regulation, e-commerce regulation, the Digital Services Act and Section 230). D3 is part of the global digital rights movement and is the only Portuguese representative in European Digital Rights (EDRi), having been an observer from December 2017 and a full member since 25 April 2020. It also maintains Ciberlândia, a Mastodon instance within the Fediverse dedicated to digital culture and its intersections with creativity, society and human activity. Within its mission it has also presented an Internet search engine focused directly on the privacy of users and their online searches. Its most prominent campaign achievement is its role in the declaration of unconstitutionality of the Portuguese law imposing retention of metadata for all communications. In December 2017 D3 filed a complaint with the Ombudsperson (Provedora de Justiça), requesting that the law be sent for constitutional review on the basis of Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) case law and opinions of the National Data Protection Commission. In January 2019 the Ombudsperson recommended a legislative amendment to align the law with CJEU case law, but the Minister of Justice refused; in August 2019 the Ombudsperson therefore sent the Constitutional Court a request for successive constitutional review, and in 2022 the Constitutional Court declared the law unconstitutional. Other notable positions include criticism of the Social Internet Tariff (TSI), created in 2022 to ease access for people in vulnerable situations, which D3 argued was in fact ten times more expensive and twelve times slower than comparable market options; opposition to the use of artificial intelligence by authorities for surveillance, which it considers an authoritarian measure that also benefits private AI companies; participation in a coalition of 49 associations demanding that Europe withdraw the "Chat Control" proposal that would break encryption in cases of combating child abuse; a position on the complaint against Apple for violation of anti-monopoly laws; and a call for the suspension of Worldcoin in Portugal. It has also criticised UK predictive-policing algorithms using health, criminal-record and ethnicity data. D3 has participated in events such as the Digital Rights Festival (December 2024) and Festa do Software Livre (2024), and in several programmes of the Autonomia Digital series on RTP Açores.

D3 - Defesa dos Direitos Digitais was created on 22 March 2017 as a Portuguese private-law non-profit association dedicated to defending fundamental rights and freedoms in the digital context. Its founding mission statement ties digital rights to the functioning of democracy: it seeks to ensure freedom of choice and autonomy, privacy, and free access to information, knowledge and culture, and frames the defence of digital means as something that strengthens the self-correcting mechanisms of a democratic rule-of-law state. The association is registered under the Portuguese tax number NIPC 514339934 and operates as a member-based organisation; by its own account it has more than 75 associados, and its activity is sustained by the effort and dedication of those members. From its early years D3 built a public profile around a defined set of digital policy themes. Its own description of its work lists copyright reform and its censorship filters, Internet neutrality and zero rating, the use of contact-tracing applications, video surveillance of public space, privacy and encryption of citizens' communications, retention of telecommunications metadata, electronic voting, and Internet regulation. Its methods are those of a civil-society advocacy group rather than a service provider: writing and publishing texts, running campaigns, issuing press releases and speaking with journalists, meeting politicians and public entities, contributing to legislative processes, filing complaints and requests for access to public documentation, and cooperating with international peers. A decisive early step was its entry into the European digital rights network. D3 became an observer at European Digital Rights (EDRi) in December 2017 and a full member on 25 April 2020, making it the only Portuguese representative in the organisation. This placed it within the broader global digital rights movement and gave it a channel to European-level policy debates. The association's best-known campaign concerns the retention of telecommunications metadata. In December 2017 D3 filed a complaint with the Portuguese Ombudsperson (Provedora de Justiça), asking that the law imposing retention of metadata for all communications be sent for constitutional review, basing the request on Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) case law and on opinions of the National Data Protection Commission. In January 2019 the Ombudsperson recommended a legislative amendment to bring the law into line with CJEU case law, but the Minister of Justice refused. In August 2019 the Ombudsperson accordingly sent the Constitutional Court a request for successive review of the law's constitutionality. In 2022 the Constitutional Court declared the law unconstitutional — an outcome D3 presents as one of its signature achievements. D3 also took part in a hearing on metadata retention at the Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Freedoms and Guarantees Committee on 4 March 2021. Over the following years D3 broadened its agenda. It criticised the Social Internet Tariff (TSI), created in 2022 to facilitate access for people in vulnerable situations, arguing that it was in fact ten times more expensive and twelve times slower than comparable options available on the market. It opposed the possibility of authorities using artificial intelligence to surveil, characterising the measure as authoritarian and as one that would also benefit private companies using AI because "they gain access to citizens' data". It joined 49 associations demanding that Europe withdraw the "Chat Control" proposal that would break encryption in cases of combating abuse of minors. It took a position on the complaint against Apple for violation of anti-monopoly laws, and defended the suspension of Worldcoin in Portugal. It also criticised the creation in England of an algorithm to predict homicides using health, criminal-record and ethnicity data, arguing that such predictive systems are not only illegal but incapable of predicting crimes and serve to accentuate structural discrimination and pre-existing inequalities. Beyond policy work, D3 maintains Ciberlândia, a Mastodon instance in the Fediverse dedicated to digital culture and its intersections with creativity, society and human activity, and it has presented an Internet search engine focused directly on the privacy of users and their online searches. It participates in public events and media, including the Digital Rights Festival in December 2024, the Festa do Software Livre in 2024, and several programmes in the Autonomia Digital series on RTP Açores. It has been distinguished with the Medalha de Honra of the Liga Portuguesa dos Direitos Humanos - Civitas, a century-old institution dedicated to the defence, deepening and expansion of human rights. Its current board is composed of Ricardo Lafuente (president), Tiago Epifânio, Nuno Mota, Ana Carvalho and Rute Correia. In 2025 and 2026 it continued to intervene in Portuguese legislative debates, submitting a contribution to Bill 398/XVII/1 on age verification on the Internet and publishing an explainer on the new children-and-social-media proposal.

• D3 - Defesa dos Direitos Digitais is founded as a Portuguese non-profit association.

• D3 becomes an observer at European Digital Rights (EDRi).

• D3 files a complaint with the Portuguese Ombudsperson seeking constitutional review of the telecommunications metadata retention law.

• The Ombudsperson recommends a legislative amendment to align the metadata law with CJEU case law; the Minister of Justice refuses.

• The Ombudsperson sends the Constitutional Court a request for successive constitutional review of the metadata retention law.

• D3 becomes a full member of European Digital Rights (EDRi), the only Portuguese representative.

• D3 takes part in a hearing on metadata retention at the Assembly of the Republic's Constitutional Affairs committee.

• The Portuguese Constitutional Court declares the telecommunications metadata retention law unconstitutional.

• D3 participates in the Festa do Software Livre.

• D3 participates in the Digital Rights Festival.

• D3 submits a contribution to Bill 398/XVII/1 on age verification on the Internet.

• D3 publishes an explainer on the new children-and-social-media bill ahead of its parliamentary discussion.

A small, member-driven Portuguese non-profit positioned as the country's frontline digital rights advocacy organisation and its sole EDRi representative.

• Ciberlândia Mastodon instance

  A Mastodon instance in the Fediverse maintained by D3, dedicated to digital culture and its intersections with creativity, society and human activity.

• Privacy-focused Internet search engine

  A search engine presented by D3 that focuses directly on the privacy of users and their online searches.

1. 1D3 - Defesa dos Direitos Digitais - Homedireitosdigitais.pt
2. 2D3 - Defesa dos Direitos Digitais - 5 coisas que importa saber acerca da nova proposta sobre crianças e redes sociaisdireitosdigitais.pt
3. 3D3 - Defesa dos Direitos Digitais - Sobredireitosdigitais.pt
4. 4D3 - Defesa dos Direitos Digitais - Regulação da Internetdireitosdigitais.pt
5. 5D3 - Digital Rights (Wikidata)wikidata.org
6. 6D3 – Defesa dos Direitos Digitais (Wikipedia PT)pt.wikipedia.org