Onlime & MinForening start cooperation for the benefit of Danish associations

Association life in Denmark is rich and special.

As a reader, you are likely to be active - or have been active - in an association.

We recall sitting inside a crowded classroom, longing sighs and long looks out the window, eager for the extracurricular activities to begin.

In Denmark, we start early in the associative life. It continues throughout life and provides a framework for interests and interaction between people - of all kinds and from all backgrounds. The side benefit is that it strengthens our understanding and experience of society and democracy (sdu.dk).

Of course, associations use digital tools as we do today.

Social media and cloud services from large US companies are used in many associations, helping to plan activities, coordinate carpooling and share memories.

The tools themselves can be good. But less good is that one's data is often located outside the EU in the US, and does not get adequate protection (twobirds.com)

We also see that many of the services and apps are free. As a user, you are therefore very much the product. In other words, because one's data and behaviour is subject to ad sales, aggregation or resale to other companies.

This is a problem because we are giving away information and because it can help to monitor and include children and young people early in the marketing machine of the big US services. (Read about 'Surveillance Capitalism' at theguardian.com).

For some members and parents, it's also just about avoiding that leisure activities have to go past Facebook, for example.

The Danish government and the EU are also concerned that citizens can use local alternatives (mm.dk) to be more autonomous and ensure better data protection.

Onlime and MinForening are working against this trend. Together, we offer a digital alternative for associations. We develop services and apps locally, giving associations a wealth of digital tools while protecting privacy.

In contrast to the US services, we store data in the EU. And we never make money from users' data - it's simply not part of our business model.

The processing, protection and location of data are essential to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

It is crucial for us to be part of the fight to offer European - and Danish - alternatives.