Who Defends Your Digital Rights? Meet EFF's Cindy Cohn

Jul 2, 2025

Cindy Cohn, Executive Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, is a formidable advocate for digital rights. She recounts her remarkable journey from a budding attorney to leading a team of experts in fighting against government surveillance. Cindy tackles the dangers of encryption backdoors, arguing against the 'nothing to hide' mentality as political realities shift. She shares practical security tips, emphasizes the importance of privacy for social change, and urges active participation in preserving digital democracy, revealing the stakes of inadequate privacy protections.

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ANECDOTE

Early Legal Victory Story

Cindy Cohn fell into the Bernstein v. Department of Justice case through friendships with early internet pioneers.
Despite being a novice lawyer, she leveraged expert support to win a landmark First Amendment ruling.

INSIGHT

Impact of Bernstein Case

Bernstein victory helped make encryption widespread and innovation possible without government approval.
Without it, online security would be weaker and subject to heavy government control.

INSIGHT

UK's Encryption Backdoor Threat

UK's demand for device access effectively bans real encryption by requiring plaintext access.
Apple disabled advanced data protection in UK to comply, risking global privacy erosion.

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Four years out of law school, and she's taking on the entire U.S. Department of Justice? Meet Cindy Cohn, the attorney who turned a Haight-Ashbury party connection into one of the most pivotal legal victories in internet history. As Executive Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation—the world's leading digital rights organization—Cindy commands a team of 125 lawyers, technologists, and activists fighting the surveillance state daily. She spills the brutal truth about encryption backdoors threatening global security, why the "nothing to hide" argument crumbles in 2025's political reality, and how well-intentioned laws become authoritarian weapons. From tactical Signal advice to border crossing strategies, Cindy shares the security practices she actually uses while exposing how the UK's encryption demands could destroy privacy worldwide. This conversation will shatter your assumptions about online privacy and arm you with the knowledge to fight back against the surveillance state while revealing EFF's urgent mission to reclaim our digital democracy.

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