D64 – Centre for Digital Progress

D64 – Zentrum für digitalen Fortschritt e. V. is a German digital-policy association and think tank headquartered in Berlin. Founded in December 2011, it describes itself as an independent, non-profit organisation whose members see the digital transformation as an opportunity to improve how modern society lives together. Its stated guiding values are freedom, justice and solidarity, which it seeks to update for the digital age through a progressive digital policy. The association is widely identified with the "social-democratic idea" and is often compared to other party-adjacent digital associations in Germany such as cnetz, netzbegrünung or Load, although its statutes define it as party-independent. D64 organises its substantive work through 13 working groups (Arbeitsgruppen), covering education, cybersecurity, data protection, digital democracy, e-health, the creative industries, artificial intelligence, sustainability, open source, platforms, start-up promotion, Web3 and the future of work. Coordination takes place in the association's own "Vereinsheim", a self-hosted Humhub instance. The association publishes blog posts and policy papers, including a foundational-values paper on artificial intelligence, and runs campaigns on net-policy issues. Its membership grew from around 600 in December 2020 to 735 in January 2022, and the official website now cites more than 800 members. It is led by two equal co-chairs; Svea Windwehr and Erik Tuchtfeld were confirmed in office in the November 2024 board elections. D64 has been particularly visible in German debates over data retention (Vorratsdatenspeisung), where it supplied model motions for SPD bodies and supported a party-base petition against the measure, and in the European copyright debate, where it co-initiated pan-European demonstrations against Article 13 and ran a "Botbriefe" campaign that generated template letters to Members of the European Parliament. It also launched the D64 Covidbot in February 2021 and, in June 2021, published the "Login-Falle" concept as an alternative to mandatory identification in social networks; the concept was taken up by the interior ministers' conference and later appeared in the 2021 Ampel coalition agreement. In November 2022 the association launched its own Mastodon instance at d-64.social and renewed its charter as a basic programme. As a non-profit registered association (eingetragener Verein), D64 is not a commercial company in the conventional sense, but it operates as a branded civil-society platform with a distinct identity, membership model, ticker, events and digital infrastructure. Its activities span campaigning, policy advocacy, public events such as the annual Superklausur and member assembly, and digital services for members and the public.

D64 – Zentrum für Digitalen Fortschritt e. V. was founded in December 2011 as a digital-policy association based in Berlin. Its stated purpose was to help shape public debate about the social changes brought by the internet, particularly with regard to political development in Germany. The association describes itself as close to the "social-democratic idea", and some of its founding members were also members of the SPD, although its statutes define it as party-independent. Media interpreted the founding of D64 and similar associations partly against the backdrop of the temporary rise of the Pirate Party and the perceived neglect of net-policy topics by established parties. From its early years, D64 acted as a think tank and campaign organisation. Its charter set out ten points, with the goal of using its own impulses to move political actors toward better net policy. Its compass was the triad of freedom, justice and solidarity, to be updated in the context of digitalisation. Among its demands were free internet access for all, fundamental-rights-oriented data protection, consistent digitalisation of work and science, and preservation of a borderless internet. D64 became particularly visible in the German debates over data retention (Vorratsdatenspeicherung). It provided model motions for SPD bodies to secure a decision against introducing data retention at the 2015 SPD party convention, and it supported the SPD base's member petition against data retention. When the Grand Coalition ultimately passed a data-retention law in 2015, D64 announced in spring 2016 that it would file a constitutional complaint before the Federal Constitutional Court; the case remained pending there. In the European copyright debate, D64 was active on several levels. It was a co-initiator of the Europe-wide demonstrations against Article 13 of the Digital Single Market copyright directive and ran the "Botbriefe" campaign, which generated a template letter that could be sent to Members of the European Parliament. Other campaign themes included preventing a press publishers' ancillary copyright, promoting Creative Commons licences, digital freedom for teaching materials, and preventing upload filters. In February 2021 D64 launched the D64 Covidbot, a chatbot that sent daily updates with current COVID-19 figures such as infection and death numbers for subscribed locations via various messenger services and social networks. In June of the same year, the association published the "Login-Falle" concept, developed in response to demands for identification requirements in social networks. The concept avoids prior storage of personal data and instead uses standardised interfaces to enable de-anonymisation of suspects. Within days, the interior ministers' conference took it up as a possible tool against hate crime. The former Hamburg data protection commissioner Johannes Caspar cited the "Login-Falle" as an example of creative solutions in favour of freedom of expression and informational integrity that could break with and overcome existing surveillance thinking. In November 2021 the Ampel coalition agreement included the "Login-Falle" as an instrument for identifying perpetrators. In November 2022 D64 launched its own Mastodon instance at d-64.social and renewed its basic programme with a new "Charta". Membership grew from around 600 in December 2020 to 735 in January 2022, and the official website later cited more than 800 members. The association is led by two equal co-chairs; Svea Windwehr and Erik Tuchtfeld were confirmed in office in the November 2024 board elections. Its work is organised in 13 working groups, coordinated through a self-hosted Humhub instance called the "Vereinsheim". D64 continues to publish blog posts and policy papers, including a foundational-values paper on artificial intelligence, and to hold events such as the annual Superklausur and member assembly.

• D64 – Zentrum für Digitalen Fortschritt e. V. is founded in Berlin.

• D64 provides model motions for SPD bodies and supports the party-base petition against data retention; the Grand Coalition passes a data-retention law.

• D64 announces a constitutional complaint before the Federal Constitutional Court against data retention; the case remains pending.

• D64 is a co-initiator of Europe-wide demonstrations against Article 13 of the EU copyright directive and runs the Botbriefe campaign.

• D64 has around 600 members.

• D64 launches the D64 Covidbot.

• D64 publishes the Login-Falle concept; it is taken up by the interior ministers' conference days later.

• The Ampel coalition agreement includes the Login-Falle as an instrument for identifying perpetrators.

• D64 has 735 members.

• D64 launches its own Mastodon instance at d-64.social and renews its Charta.

• A by-election for the board takes place; Svea Windwehr and Erik Tuchtfeld continue as co-chairs.

• Svea Windwehr and Erik Tuchtfeld are confirmed in office in the board elections.

• Superklausur and member assembly 2026 take place from 20 to 22 November 2026 in Erkner.

Non-profit, party-independent digital-policy association and think tank close to the social-democratic idea; acts as a progressive voice in German and European net policy through campaigns, policy papers and member-driven working groups.

• D64 Covidbot

  A chatbot launched in February 2021 that sends daily updates with current COVID-19 figures such as infection and death numbers for subscribed locations via various messenger services and social networks.

• Login-Falle

  A concept published in June 2021 in response to demands for identification requirements in social networks; it avoids prior storage of personal data and uses standardised interfaces to enable de-anonymisation of suspects.

• d-64.social

  D64's own Mastodon instance, launched in November 2022.

• Vereinsheim

  A self-hosted Humhub instance used to coordinate the association's work.

• Charta

  The association's basic programme, comprising ten points and renewed in November 2022.

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