TRUST IN DIGITAL LIFE

Their core work

Trust in Digital Life (TDL) is a Belgian NGO that works at the intersection of digital security, privacy rights, and regulatory compliance — translating complex technical and legal frameworks into actionable governance and training. In CyberSec4Europe, they contributed to building Europe's cybersecurity competence network, bringing expertise in security training, certification, and institutional governance. In CSI-COP, they helped mobilize citizen scientists to audit how websites and apps comply with GDPR cookie and tracking rules. Their core value is bringing a civil-society and policy-oriented lens to digital security and privacy debates, filling the gap between technical research and practical compliance reality.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

TDL entered H2020 through the cybersecurity infrastructure angle — training practitioners, building cyber ranges, and designing certification and governance frameworks for institutional actors. Their second project marks a clear pivot toward the citizen and regulatory end of digital rights: cookies, trackers, app profiling, and GDPR enforcement measured through grassroots participation. The direction suggests a shift from "how do we build secure systems for professionals" toward "how do we protect ordinary people from digital surveillance and ensure companies comply with the law."

TDL is moving toward citizen-facing digital rights and regulatory compliance research, making them a strong fit for future projects on privacy technology, data governance, or consumer protection in digital markets.

How they like to work

TDL has never led an H2020 project — they join as a participant, contributing specialist expertise to large European consortia. Both projects they joined were very large networks (57 unique partners across 25 countries from just 2 projects), which suggests they are comfortable operating within complex multi-stakeholder research programs rather than driving bilateral relationships. They likely serve as a civil-society, policy, or governance voice within otherwise technically dominated consortia.

Despite only 2 projects, TDL has touched 57 unique consortium partners across 25 countries — a reflection of the very large pan-European consortia they joined, particularly CyberSec4Europe, which was a flagship EU cybersecurity network. Their network is broad and European in scope, without an apparent regional concentration.

What sets them apart

TDL occupies a specific niche as a non-commercial association that bridges cybersecurity infrastructure and citizen digital rights — a combination rarely held by a single small NGO. Their value in a consortium is the civil-society credibility and policy perspective they bring to what are otherwise engineer- or researcher-dominated projects. For coordinators building consortia that must demonstrate societal relevance, citizen engagement, or GDPR alignment, TDL offers a ready-made partner with documented experience in both security governance and privacy compliance research.

Highlights from their portfolio

• CyberSec4Europe
  One of the largest EU pilot projects for a European Cybersecurity Competence Network, carrying TDL's biggest H2020 grant (€659,530) and placing them inside a flagship security governance initiative.
• CSI-COP
  An unusual citizen science approach to GDPR enforcement — recruiting non-experts to audit real cookie and tracker compliance across apps and websites — showing TDL's ability to operate at the regulatory-civic intersection.