DRAPAC VPN Partnership
EngageMedia, Reporters Without Borders, eQualitie, Digital Defenders Partnership, and SAFEnet provide FREE VPN access to human rights defenders through the DRAPAC VPN Project.
This partnership serves as a platform for resource sharing and knowledge exchange to better support Asia-Pacific human rights defenders at risk of digital surveillance and online censorship.
Information for Prospective Partners
Who can join the the partnership?
The DRAPAC VPN Partnership is open to organisations whose work aligns with the project’s goal of supporting Asia-Pacific human rights defenders at risk of digital surveillance and online censorship. In particular, we seek organisations with the capacity and ability to host Outline servers for the DRAPAC VPN Project on-premise or via major cloud platforms.
Due to the nature of this project, organisations registered in countries designated as “not free” by Freedom House cannot join as partners. The partnership is not open to individuals, although they may still benefit from the project as end-users.
Who is responsible for setting up and maintaining the Outline servers?
If you have the capacity to set up, run, and maintain the servers for the project, you may do so and simply provide EngageMedia with your server details, including the API URL and SHA-256 certificate.
Alternatively, you may grant EngageMedia delegated access to your hosting control panel or cloud console. We will set up the servers according to your budget, as well as run and maintain them for the project.
What Outline server details do you need?
You need to provide the details below to add your Outline server to the project:
- Name of the hosting or cloud service provider;
- Country and city where the server is located;
- Name of the organisation maintaining the server; and
- API URL and SHA-256 certificate of the server.
How can I help distribute Outline access keys to human rights defenders in my network?
You need to set the criteria for human rights defenders in your network be able to obtain to the Outline access keys. We will create a dedicated landing page where they can complete a simple needs assessment form based on the criteria that you set. You will have access to a dashboard to review requests and manage users on an allowlist that grants access to your Outline servers and those maintained by other partners.
Can I restrict access to Outline servers that my organisation maintains to human rights defenders in our network only?
By default, all Outline servers will be part of the general pool. A pre-approved user in any of the allowlists managed by DRAPAC VPN partners can obtain access keys from the general pool. The user may choose from which servers in the general pool they want to obtain an Outline access key.
However, if you wish to make your Outline servers not be part of the general pool, you may grant access key issuance only to users in your allowlist. While they still have access to the general pool, they will also have access to your Outline servers.
What happens when the Outline server is down or terminated?
We log access key issuance through the project anonymously. If we detect multiple errors originating from a server that you maintain, we will remove it from the list of servers and inform you.
What monitoring and evaluation data available to project partners?
DRAPAC VPN partners have access to a dashboard that shows real-time 30-day aggregated, anonymised stats on the number of access keys in use and the amount of data transferred for each of the servers that they maintain.
Can I contribute towards paying for the cost of running a VPN server? How much does it cost?
You may sponsor a VPN server by giving to this project online.
The cost of running a VPN server vary depending on the specifications and service provider. On average, it costs 25 USD per month or 300 USD per year but you may contribute any amount.
How can my organisation join the project as a partner?
Please email EngageMedia human rights technology team by email at [email protected] (public key).