About The Calyx Institute
About The Calyx Institute
The Calyx Institute strives for universally accessible digital privacy, security, and connectivity.
Our mission
The Calyx Institute defends digital privacy, advances connectivity, and strives for a future where everyone has access to the resources and tools they need to remain securely connected.
We build and maintain a privacy-respecting ecosystem of free and open-source software (FOSS) centering on CalyxOS, an operating system for Android devices, that enables people to enjoy their lives online with data privacy and dignity. We offer hands-on tools, such as the Calyx hotspot, for people to access the internet easily wherever they are, especially in areas where connectivity options are limited. Through grantmaking, research, education, and community capacity building, we support internet freedom that allows the public to make informed choices about their online lives.
What we do
At Calyx, we focus on three areas of development: building a privacy-respecting ecosystem with software development, bridging the digital divide with affordable internet access, and sustaining our community through initiatives in grantmaking, research, and education.
Centering on CalyxOS, the privacy-respecting ecosystem of FOSS tools we build aids in encrypting communications with contacts, combats invasive metadata collection, and protects people who are using these devices from geolocation tracking.
With the Calyx Internet Membership Program, we offer people who have limited resources or few alternatives the means to stay connected.
Along with tool development, we are also actively engaging with diverse stakeholder groups in our community to build vocabulary around privacy and expand literacy on digital security. Through grantmaking, we offer direct support to organizations and collectives that focus on protecting privacy and internet freedom. In addition, we seed research and education as a core programmatic component in our various projects and initiatives. By partnering with our peers, funders, and service providers, we hope to drive collective action toward a privacy-and-rights-respecting future of technology.
Our values
We at Calyx believe that everyone has an equal right to access the internet and digital communications with personal data privacy. We work to create a world where data protection is the norm and everyone is equipped with the tools and information they need to make informed choices about their online lives. From our inception, we have been and remain committed to a revenue model that allows us to prioritize people and privacy over profit.
- Privacy: We believe the right to privacy is incontrovertible and that the internet is no exception.
- Security: Digital safety and security for individuals should not be afterthoughts but rather be built into the technology we use.
- Accessibility: Everyone—regardless of age, race, gender, sexual orientation, education, disability, nationality, profession, or criminal history—should have equal and easy access to digital privacy and security tools.
- Freedom of expression: No one’s voice should be silenced or censored.
- People-first technology: Profit should never come before user privacy or security.
Our history
The Calyx Institute was founded in 2010 by Nicholas Merrill to promote and defend the right to privacy in the digital age. As the owner of a small internet service provider, Merrill was the first person to file a constitutional challenge to the National Security Letter (NSL) statute in the USA Patriot Act in 2004. The case, settled ten years after it was filed, influenced how the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) can acquire personal information. Inspired by this, Merrill founded the Calyx Institute, a 501(c)(3) organization, to raise awareness about online privacy, surveillance, and accessibility through software development, research advocacy, and cross-sector partnerships.
Through making technologies more secure and accessible, Calyx has become a large community of members and contributors, in the U.S. and globally. It has a stellar advisory panel, a diverse network of partners and funders, and a dedicated and passionate staff. With our members’ generous support, we have been improving our tools to get more people securely connected, expanding the FOSS ecosystem, building capacity in digital security for communities most in need, and nurturing a culture that leads toward a data-secured, rights-centered, and equal access future.
In 2024, employees and management at Calyx signed their first-ever collective bargaining agreement. Calyx staff are represented by Communications Workers of America Local 1101.