About the Data Protection Foundation
We're a non-profit Community Interest Company protecting UK citizens from data misuse.
Our Mission
The Problem
Companies routinely breach data protection laws, but enforcement is weak and inconsistent. They have technical expertise and legal resources that individual citizens can't match. The result? Your data is collected, shared, and exploited without meaningful consent or accountability.
Our Solution
We level the playing field by combining technical expertise with legal action. Our team conducts forensic analysis of how companies actually handle data, then uses that evidence to hold them accountable through collective legal action and regulatory complaints.
How We Work
Technical Research
We conduct forensic analysis of how companies collect, process, and share personal data. Our technical experts uncover hidden tracking, unauthorized data sharing, and violations of data protection laws.
Legal Action
We bring collective actions and strategic litigation against companies that break data protection laws. Our legal team works with leading data rights solicitors to hold companies accountable.
Public Education
We translate complex data protection law into clear, practical guidance. Our resources help UK citizens understand their rights and take action against data misuse.
Member Advocacy
We provide direct support to our members, helping them exercise their data rights and take action against companies that misuse their information.
Our History
The Data Protection Foundation was founded in 2021 as a Community Interest Company - a special type of non-profit organization designed to benefit the community. We're funded by our members and operate independently of government and corporate interests.
Key Achievements
- •Stopped Oracle from tracking 500,000 UK citizens through hidden browser identifiers
- •Conducted major investigations into Meta, TikTok, and Google's data practices
- •Made submissions to UK government consultations on GDPR adoption and data protection reform
Team
Mark Stoter OBE
Chair
Senior technologist with extensive experience in the British Army and intelligence community. Expert in digital security and data protection.
Advisory Panel
Dr Mark Leiser BSc, PhD
Digital Regulation & Platform Governance
Specialist in digital regulation, disinformation, and dark patterns. Visiting professor at the University of Riga and research scholar at the University of Milan. Advises governments and industry on the human impact of digital technologies.
Duncan McCann
Child Safety & Data Rights
Head of Accountability at the Good Law Project. Previously led accountability at 5Rights Foundation, helping develop the UK's Online Safety Act. Expert in children's rights online and surveillance advertising.
César Manso-Sayao
Strategic Litigation & Digital Rights
Legal Officer at Digital Freedom Fund. Holds Master's degrees in Human Rights and Sociology, with postgraduate studies in Technopolitics. Advocates for strategic litigation and open-source approaches to digital age challenges.
Marie Potel-Saville
Privacy by Design & Dark Patterns
Co-Founder & CEO of Fair Patterns, a multimodal AI that scans sites, apps and social media to find and fix predatory design at scale. She is also a member of the Support Pool of Experts in dark patterns at the European Data Protection Board, and lectures at Singapore Management University, Sciences Po and Paris II University.
Maria Stasi
Digital and Human Rights
Maria Luisa is a competition lawyer by background with expertise in media, telecoms and digital sectors. Maria is currently head of Law and Policy at Article 19, a digital rights NGO. She holds a PhD in Law from the University of Tilburg and an LLM from the College of Europe.