Danny O'Brien is an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 technology

Technology

Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...

 journalist

Journalist

A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...

 and civil liberties activist. He wrote weekly columns for the Sunday Times

The Sunday Times (UK)

The Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper, distributed in the United Kingdom. The Sunday Times is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International, which is in turn owned by News Corporation. Times Newspapers also owns The Times, but the two papers were founded...

and the Irish Times; and before that for The Guardian

The Guardian

The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

, and acted as a consultant in helping The Guardian formulate its online strategy. He worked for the UK edition of Wired, as well as for Channel 4

Channel 4

Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

 and the British ISP

Internet service provider

An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...

 Virgin.net

Virgin.net

Virgin.net was an Internet service provider operating in the United Kingdom. It launched in November 1996. Once a joint venture between NTL and the Virgin Group, the ISP became wholly owned by NTL in 2004....

. Together with Dave Green

Dave Green (journalist)

Dave Green is a journalist, broadcaster and snack food expert. He was Production Editor on Amiga Power magazine and Reviews Editor for the brief UK edition of Wired magazine. Together with Danny O'Brien, he is jointly responsible for publishing the email newsletter Need To Know...

, he founded and wrote the now-defunct email newsletter Need To Know.
In May 2005 he succeeded Ren Bucholz as Activist

Activism

Activism consists of intentional efforts to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing...

 Coordinator for the Electronic Frontier Foundation

Electronic Frontier Foundation

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is an international non-profit digital rights advocacy and legal organization based in the United States...

, and then became EFF's International Outreach Coordinator. In April 2010, he moved to a new position as Internet Advocacy Coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists

Committee to Protect Journalists

The Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent nonprofit organisation based in New York City that promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists.-History:A group of U.S...

.

Danny also set up a pledge on PledgeBank

PledgeBank

PledgeBank is a website which runs pledges on all topics, of the form: "I will do x if y number of people agree to do the same." Such public commitments are a non-coercive way to solve problems of collective action, especially when the goal is a public good. PledgeBank was founded by mySociety and...

 to help coordinate the establishment of "an organisation that will campaign for digital rights in the UK" which led to the creation of the Open Rights Group

Open Rights Group

The Open Rights Group is a UK-based organisation that works to preserve digital rights and freedoms by campaigning on digital rights issues, acting as a media clearinghouse service putting journalists in touch with experts, and by fostering a community of grassroots activists...

.

Originally from London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, he later resided in San Francisco, California

San Francisco, California

San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

. He holds a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Oxford

University of Oxford

The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...

. He was married to Quinn Norton

Quinn Norton

Quinn Norton is a Washington DC-based journalist, photographer and blogger covering hacker culture, intellectual property and copyright issues, and the Internet. Up until early 2009, she lived and worked in San Francisco, where she was married to journalist Danny O'Brien...

.

External links

• Oblomovka — Danny's weblog
• Danny's token homepage — detailing Danny's previous projects, including some that are still running today.