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.
Accepting donations now
- Peripherals. Keyboards, mice, cables, chargers and monitors. We collect them and give them to people who need them.
- Computers. Laptops, desktops and workstations are welcome too. They go to our lending library and computer giveaways.
- Creative gear. Cameras, DJ gear, mixers and other electronics people can make things with and share their voice through. They go to our lending library.
Pickups are every 3rd Saturday of the month. Donating? Use the donation form. See everything we accept, and how to wipe your data first, on our donations page. Need equipment? Use the request form.
Borrow from the library
Our lending library is open. Borrow workstation computers, cameras, audio and DJ gear, microscopes and more for days or weeks. See our library.
What's next
- Tech literacy workshops. We're planning workshops for fall and winter 2026, with training sessions and ongoing support, in person and remote.
- Computer giveaways to community members, no strings attached.
Pickup days, fundraisers and workshops go on our events calendar.
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. Donations are open now, the lending library is open, and workshops are planned for fall and winter 2026.
What we do
- Peripherals. We collect donated keyboards, mice, cables, chargers and monitors and give them to people who need them. Pickups are every 3rd Saturday of the month.
- Lending library. People can borrow workstation PCs and creative gear (cameras, DJ gear, mixers, audio gear, microscopes) for an extended time. Workstations come loaded with free, open-source software, and training will be available. See our library.
- Tech literacy workshops. We're planning workshops for fall and winter 2026, with training sessions and ongoing support, in person and remote.
- Computer giveaways. We're lining up donated computers to give to community members, no strings attached.
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. See our events.
Donate Equipment
We take donated tech and give it to trans people who need it, no strings attached. Donations are open now.
Pickup days
We pick up donations on the 3rd Saturday of every month. Fill out the donation form with a rough list of what you have and your neighborhood, and we'll schedule your pickup.
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 hand a device over. 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 go to our lending library and computer giveaways.
- Creative gear goes to our 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
Use the donation form: a rough list of what you have and your neighborhood. We'll tell you what we can use and schedule it for the next pickup day. Prefer email? The address is on the contact page.
Looking to receive equipment instead? Use the request form. Pickup days are also on our events calendar.
Library
Want to borrow something? Use the request form. Questions? Use our contact form.
Contact
The easiest way to reach us is the contact form. It runs on Google Forms. We don't ask for ID or legal names.
Email: computercenter.online.info@gmail.com
Prefer Signal or another channel? Say so in your first message 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. Use it to request peripherals, borrow from the library, or tell us what else you'd like. We'll say plainly what we have.
For equipment donors
Use the donation form to tell us what you have and your neighborhood. We'll reply with what we can use and schedule your pickup for the next 3rd Saturday of the month.
For community
We're planning workshops for fall and winter 2026. Want to hear about them? Send a note. A chosen name and any way to reach you is all we need, per our privacy policy. Pickups and events are on our events calendar.
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.
On our donation and contact forms: we ask for a chosen name, pronouns only if you want to share them, a way to reach you, and what you want to tell us or donate. For pickups we ask for your neighborhood first, and for a street address only when we confirm a pickup. Answers go to a Google account that only authorized CCO members can open, and we delete your contact info once your request is handled.
On our website
We add no analytics or tracking scripts to this website, and its fonts and icons are stored on our own site. Our Library and Events pages load their lists from Google Sheets, so Google can see that your browser asked for them. Usage guides open from Google Drive, and only if you click one. Our request, donation and contact forms run on Google Forms.
If you borrow equipment
We keep a loan record: the item's number, a random loan code, the dates, and a way to reach you while the item is out. We delete your contact info when the item comes back. The record never includes your legal name or ID, and the public Library page shows only whether an item is available, never who has it. Loan records live in a private Google Sheet that only authorized CCO members can open.
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.