Computer Center Online

Free tech for trans New Yorkers, no strings attached.

We're a community group in Ridgewood, Bushwick and Bed-Stuy. We collect donated tech and give it to people who need it. We're building this in phases, starting small.

Where we are now

Starting with peripherals. We're collecting keyboards, mice, cables, chargers and monitors, and giving them away to people who need them. Donate equipment.
Computers are accepted too. We hold them for the later phases below.
Creative gear is welcome too. Cameras, DJ gear, mixers and other electronics people can make things with and share their voice through. We hold them for the lending library.

What's next, in order

Tech literacy. Workshops, training sessions and ongoing support, in person and remote.
A lending library of workstation computers with free, open-source software, for people who need extra power to finish a project. See what we plan to lend.
Computer giveaways to community members, no strings attached.

We aren't putting dates on these. We'll post here when each one starts.

No gatekeeping

No ID. No legal names. No means test. A chosen name is enough, everywhere at CCO.
When we lend or give equipment: no late fees, no collections, no police.
Records too minimal to endanger anyone. We built our privacy policy so there is nothing meaningful to hand over. Read it here.

Who we are

A small, trans-led volunteer group in Brooklyn and Queens. About CCO →

Questions? Contact us.

About CCO

Computer Center Online is a trans-led community technology group in Brooklyn and Queens, with a studio in the Bushwick/Bed-Stuy area and an organizing base in Ridgewood.

What we're doing

We bring digital tools and technology literacy to trans people in need. We take donated equipment and give it to people who need it, with no strings attached. We're building this in phases, and we'd rather be clear about what exists today than promise what doesn't exist yet.

The phases

Peripherals. Collecting donated keyboards, mice, cables, chargers and monitors, and giving them away.
Literacy. Ongoing support and outreach: workshops and training sessions, in person and remote.
Lending library. Workstation PCs that can be borrowed for an extended time by people who need extra power for a project. Workstations come loaded with free, open-source software, and training is available.
Computer giveaways. Donated computers given to community members, no strings attached.

There are no dates yet. Each phase starts when we can do it well.

Why it's built this way

Nearly everything required to change your circumstances (job applications, benefits, school, telehealth, name-change paperwork) assumes a working computer. The programs that exist to close that gap usually demand ID, legal names, and proof of poverty: exactly the documentation trans people have well-founded reasons to avoid. So we designed those requirements out, on purpose, from day one.

Where we are

A small volunteer group with written policies on privacy and conduct that bind the founders too. Donations are open now.

Donate Equipment

We take donated tech and give it to trans people who need it, no strings attached. Donations are open.

What we accept

Peripherals: keyboards, mice, cables, chargers, monitors and docking stations, any age.
Computers: laptops, desktops and workstations, generally within about 7 to 8 years old, 64-bit multi-core, able to run a currently supported operating system.
Creative gear: cameras, DJ gear, mixers, microphones, audio interfaces and other electronics people can make things with and share their voice through. Any age. Older is welcome here.

Why the age limit on computers: a computer that no longer gets security updates is a risk for whoever ends up using it. If yours is older, ask us first. We may not be able to use it.

Something else? Ask first and we'll tell you plainly whether we can use it.

Wipe your data first

Donations arrive as-is, and we can't promise your data is gone. Please erase anything personal or confidential before you drop a device off. We'll try to reset every device before it goes to someone else, but we can't guarantee or certify that. Step-by-step wiping guide.

What happens to your donation

Peripherals are given away to people who need them.
Computers are held for the later phases: the lending library and computer giveaways.
Creative gear is held for the lending library.

If your company needs certified data destruction

We're not set up to certify data destruction and we don't issue certificates. If your policy requires certified erasure, have a certified IT asset disposition vendor handle your drives, then donate the rest.

Donations and taxes

Donations are gifts. We can't provide tax receipts.

How to donate

Email us a rough list of what you have and where it is. We'll tell you what we can use and how to get it to us.

Looking to receive equipment instead? Use the request form.

Library

Loading the list.

Want to borrow something? Use the request form. Questions? Email us.

Contact

Email: computercenter.online.info@gmail.com

Prefer Signal or another channel? Say so in your first email and we'll move there.

Request form

Need something from us? Fill out the request form. It runs on Google Forms. We don't ask for ID or legal names, and some things on it aren't open yet.

For equipment donors

Include a rough list of what you're donating and where it is. We'll reply with what we can use and the logistics.

For community

We'll post here as each phase starts. If you want to hear when it does, send a note. A chosen name and any way to reach you is all we need, per our privacy policy.

Where we are

Studio in the Bushwick/Bed-Stuy area; organizing base in Ridgewood. We don't publish the street address. We share it when you reach out. If you know why, you know why.

Recipient Privacy Policy

What we ask, what we keep, and what we'll never do with it. Plain language, on purpose.

Our commitment

You don't need to prove who you are to get help here. We don't ask for legal names, ID, or documentation of gender identity, transition status, or anything else about you. A chosen name is always enough.

What we ask, and what we don't

We ask for: a way to reach you, if you want us to follow up about a device, and only if you want one.
We never ask for: legal name, ID, proof of income, proof of trans or LGBTQ status, immigration status, or any government documentation, ever, for any reason.
We sometimes ask, for grant reporting only: in general terms, and only if you choose to answer: age range, what you'll use the device for, how you heard about us. Every question is skippable, and skipping changes nothing about what you receive.

On our request form: we ask for a chosen name, pronouns only if you want to share them, a way to reach you, and how comfortable you are with computers, so we can explain things at the right level. The form runs on Google Forms. Answers go to a Google account that only authorized CCO members can open.

What we collect and why

Recordkeeping exists for two reasons only: so we can follow up about a device when you ask us to, and so we can tell funders in aggregate, anonymous terms how many people we've reached, never who, specifically. Individual answers are never shared outside CCO and are combined into totals before they leave our internal records at all.

What we never do

Sell, rent, or trade any information about recipients, to anyone, for any reason.
Share a list of recipients or their identities with any outside organization, including funders: funders receive totals, not names.
Require documentation of gender identity, transition status, or any protected characteristic as a condition of service.
Disclose anyone's presence in our programs, or anything about them, to anyone outside CCO who asks informally, including friends, family, employers, or press.
Keep a record tied to your legal identity unless you volunteer it yourself.

How we protect what we do keep

Records are accessible only to authorized CCO members, stored on access-controlled systems, never printed and left out.
We keep the minimum needed: contact info for active follow-ups is deleted once the follow-up window closes; aggregate tallies are kept without any name or contact info attached from the start.
We do not use tracking, analytics, or monitoring software on any device we distribute or lend.

If we're legally compelled

If CCO is served with a subpoena or court order, we will resist any request broader than what the law actually requires, and, where the law allows us to, we will try to let the person know. We can't promise a specific outcome in every legal situation, because that depends on the law, not on our intentions. What we can promise is that we keep so little information in the first place that there is very rarely anything meaningful to hand over.

Your rights, any time

Ask what we have on file about you, in plain terms.
Ask us to delete your contact record and we will, immediately, unless we're mid-way through a follow-up you've asked for.
Decline to answer any optional question, before, during, or after receiving a device; nothing is retroactively required.

Questions or a concern about how your information was handled? Ask any CCO member directly. You don't need to file anything formal.

Space Code of Conduct

Applies to everyone in the space, at our events, and in our online rooms: members, volunteers, clients, and guests alike.

The point

CCO exists so trans people and our community can learn, get equipment, and make things in a space where nobody has to armor up first. This document is how we keep it that way. It applies to everyone equally. Being senior, talented, or essential exempts no one.

Expected

Use people's stated names and pronouns. Honest mistakes happen. Correct yourself briefly and move on. Repeating the mistake after correction stops being a mistake.
Ask before touching anyone or their in-progress work, and before photographing anyone. This space includes people with real safety reasons not to appear in photos. Group shots require asking the group.
Teach without condescension; learn without shame. "I don't know" is a normal sentence here, from trainees and seniors alike.
Respect people's attention: headphones on means do not disturb; someone mid-solder is not available for conversation.
Leave shared tools and stations ready for the next person.

Not tolerated

Harassment of any kind: slurs, deliberate misgendering or deadnaming, unwelcome sexual attention, intimidation, stalking, following someone out, or unwanted contact after being asked to stop.
Outing anyone: disclosing someone's trans status, sexuality, immigration status, HIV status, or presence at CCO without their explicit permission. This includes photos with identifiable people posted without consent.
Touching people or personal projects without consent.
Weapons in the space. Being visibly intoxicated to the point of being unsafe around tools.
Recruiting, proselytizing, or treating the space as a market for MLMs, landlording, or anyone's salvation.

When something happens

If you're comfortable, a direct "please stop" often resolves it, but you are never required to confront anyone yourself.
Bring it to any keyholder or supervising member, in the moment or later, verbally or in writing. Anonymous notes count. You choose how much detail to give and what outcome you want where possible.
The responding member's first job is the affected person's immediate comfort and safety, including asking someone to leave for the day while things get sorted.
Outcomes scale with the situation: a conversation, a warning, changed access, suspension, or permanent removal. Deliberate harassment, outing, or violence skips the ladder.
Whoever raises a concern hears back about the outcome. Reports are handled by the fewest people necessary, and retaliation against anyone for reporting is itself a removable offense.

On police

Consistent with our community policies: we do not involve police over property, payment, or conduct disputes. Those are handled by the process above. Calling emergency services is reserved for situations of imminent physical danger or medical emergency, and where a call must happen, whoever is present should do their best to inform the people in the space.

Kids and guests

Guests are welcome and are the responsibility of whoever brought them, including their conduct under this code. Minors in the space need a supervising adult.

This code is a living document. Members can propose changes at any meeting. Questions about a gray area? Ask. Asking is always the right call.

Wiping Your Data Before You Donate

Please erase your own data before you drop off a device. We try to reset every device before it goes to someone else, but we can't guarantee or certify that it's been done, and we don't issue certificates of destruction.

Before you wipe

Back up anything you want to keep.
Sign out of your accounts (Apple ID/iCloud, Microsoft, Google) and turn off Find My or Activation Lock. A device still locked to an account can't be reused.
Remove the device from any work management system or company login.

Windows 10 or 11

Windows 11: Settings, System, Recovery, Reset this PC. Windows 10: Settings, Update & Security, Recovery, Reset this PC. Choose Remove everything. When asked, choose the option to clean the drive ("Clean data" on Windows 11, "Remove files and clean the drive" on Windows 10). It takes longer. That's the point.

Mac

Macs from about 2018 on (Apple silicon or T2 chip): System Settings, General, Transfer or Reset, Erase All Content and Settings. Older Macs: restart into Recovery (hold Command-R while starting up), erase the disk in Disk Utility, then reinstall macOS.

iPhone and iPad

Settings, General, Transfer or Reset, Erase All Content and Settings.

Android

Settings, System, Reset options, Erase all data (factory reset). Menu names vary by phone.

Older computers and hard drives

A reset protects most people, but it isn't a guarantee, especially on older spinning hard drives. If the drive ever held sensitive records (taxes, medical, banking, business files), take it out and keep it or destroy it before donating. A computer without a drive is fine.

Cameras, DJ gear and recorders

Take out memory cards and USB sticks and keep them. Then use the device's factory reset or format option to clear saved files, settings and Wi-Fi passwords. If you're not sure how, check the manual or ask us.

If your company requires certified destruction

We aren't set up to certify it. Use a certified IT asset disposition vendor for the drives.

On our end

We don't look through donated files. Where we can, we reset devices before passing them on, but we can't guarantee or certify it.

Donate equipment →