Thanking Proton, our newest Platinum sponsor

OpenStreetMap Foundation is pleased and proud to announce that Proton AG has been recognised as a Platinum Corporate Member, following two donations over the past two years totalling around €70,000. Proton came to us with unsolicited donations both times. They believe in our project, the Foundation, but most importantly, our community. To quote them directly, “We truly value the partnership with OpenStreetMap”. These donations, however, were not accidental. The values of the two organisations do align very well on privacy. OSMF values and recognises the privacy of our contributors. More than 10 years ago, we adjusted our consitution to allow community members to become a part of the OSMF, to vote for the board of directors, to financially support the Foundation, without requiring them to give up personally identifying information like a name or address. We recognise there are many good reasons why someone wouldn’t want everything to be recorded. Proton is in the business of offering privacy-respecting emails, VPNs, storage tools, video conferencing and office tools that don’t share your data with anybody, not even Proton themselves. The alignment between us isn’t something either of us had to explain to the other. Maybe they can offer privacy respecting maps too! OpenStreetMap runs the largest open geographic dataset in the world, built by volunteers and used by humanitarian responders and some of the largest technology companies on the planet. OSM is free to use but running OSM costs money to pay for the servers, infrastructure, and the people who keep it working. Most of that money comes from corporate members who support the project and who subscribe to several sponsorship tiers. Proton gave us unconditional money and didn’t ask for anything in return. We really wanted to acknowledge the gift so, noting that their donations put them over our Platinum tier, our highest level of corporate membership, we have awarded them Platinum status in recognition of their awesome support. Thank you, Proton. This post is also available in: