Access Now’s Digital Security Helpline is a 24/7 free-of-charge resource for civil society around the world. Our team of digital security specialists offers technical advice and rapid-response emergency assistance to members of civil society to help them increase their digital safety. 

Access Now’s mission is to defend and extend the digital rights of people and communities at risk around the world. At the Helpline, our mandate is to assist activists, researchers, media organizations, journalists, bloggers, and human rights defenders. If you’re not sure if you’re eligible for assistance, check out our guidelines for eligibility.

The Helpline focuses exclusively on digital security and our support is tailored to you. We can help you with most common forms of digital security issues, such as offering advice on securing the devices or accounts you use or helping you think through how you communicate with others online, to assisting with more advanced threats, such as helping you protect yourself or your organization from cyber attacks or surveillance technology.

Here’s more detailed information on our services.

Send us an email. We will reply within the first two hours to set up a secure communication channel. 

To reduce and mitigate risks, and ensure we are using our resources to support civil society, we will also conduct a vetting process before proceeding to offer support.

Please read the steps here before you send your first message. You can then email us at help[at]accesssnow[dot]org.

You can still send us an email message and we will let you know whether we can work on the issue.

Our Helpline has digital security specialists providing assistance from different places around the world. This allows us to remain available 24/7, 365 days a year. The services that we provide are remote and do not require visiting a physical location.

Yes. We frequently collaborate with other organizations and professionals supporting civil society worldwide, through networks like the Computer Incident Response Center for Civil Society (CiviCERT).

If you have been previously in touch with any of our partners or trusted contacts, we recommend that you indicate this to us or ask that they connect you with us directly. This will facilitate the vetting process and allow us to offer support faster.

You will get an initial response within two hours of your first message. How long it will take to resolve your problem will depend on its complexity and the capacity of our team.

Yes. While English is the most widely used language in our team, you can also write to us in Arabic, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, and Ukrainian.

Yes. The Helpline does not charge you for technical support and assistance. 

Yes, prevention is often the best defense. We strongly encourage you to review the guides in the resources section of our website. If these don’t cover the questions you may have, our team may be able to provide preventative guidance and support to help you reduce digital security risks. 

No. We are a team that specializes in technical assistance for digital security issues. We don’t have the capacity to provide direct legal counseling or legal representation. For legal inquiries related to the Helpline’s support, including related to strategic litigation, you may contact Access Now’s Legal team at legal[at]accessnow[dot]org.

No. Our focus is on digital security. Other requests, such as for immediate assistance for physical security, legal or medical expenses (including psycho-social support), or evacuation / relocation support, are beyond our scope and capacity. However, Access Now’s Grants team may provide some of this support to grassroots and frontline organizations fighting for human rights in the digital age. You can review the requirements on the Grants team’s website. 

No, we do not provide funding or assistance for getting connected to the internet. 

However, if your community is facing an internet shutdown — that is, a deliberate blocking of internet services or communication apps, platforms, or services— we may be able to provide advice in some cases to help you circumvent the block or to connect safely and anonymously.

Yes. 

In order to assist you, the Helpline may share the information you provide to us, including personally identifiable information, with other parts of the Access Now team, with trusted partners, or with tech platforms or tech companies when strictly necessary to fulfill our purpose of undertaking the vetting process and providing you with the best direct technical assistance.

We do not publicize your identity or the nature of the services we provide you without previously obtaining your explicit consent. We also ask you not to mention Access Now, the Helpline, or the Helpline team and its members, in relation to any technical services or advice you receive from us, for the purposes of being published or posted in any public medium or forum. Learn more in our Helpline’s terms of service.

That’s possible, but all communications are managed through the main Helpline email. Once you reach out to us through that email and have completed the initial vetting process, you can make a request to connect with a specific team member. For our part, we will try our best to make sure you receive assistance from the colleague with the best ability to support you, based on their expertise, language skills, and/or knowledge of your country / region. 

No. Instead, look up contact information for Access Now’s team here. If the specific person you want to reach is not listed, please contact us using our general contact email.