Cindy Cohen is leaving EFF but not a fight for digital rights
After a quarter Cindy Cohen announced on Tuesday that he is defending digital rights, with the executive director of the Electronic Border Foundation. Cohen, who has served as a non -profit leader based in San Francisco since 2015, says he will leave the role later this year and end the season that has helped define the modern struggle over online freedom.
Cohn was initially placed as the main consultant in the bump Bernstein in front of the Ministry of JusticeThe 1990s case that lifted federal restrictions on publishing encryption code. As the EFF legal manager and the executive, he later led the group through legal challenges to government oversight, reforms on computer crime laws, and efforts to respond to companies to collect data. Over the past decade, Eff has expanded its influence and has become a key force in the formation of privacy, security and digital freedom.
In an interview with Wired, Cohen reflects on EFF’s fundamental encryption victories, its unfinished battles against the National Security Agency’s supervision (NSA), and the organization’s work that protects independent security researchers. He spoke about changing the balance of power between companies and governments, the pressure on stronger privacy laws at the government level, and the growing dangers of artificial intelligence.
Although he dismissed the leadership, he told the mountain that he intended to remain active in the fight against widespread oversight and secrecy. He says he describes himself as “more of a warrior of a manager”, saying he intends to return to support the front line. He is also working on a future book, Privacy defenderNext spring, hoping to inspire a new generation of digital law fans.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Wired: Tell us about the fights you have won, and those who are still unfinished after 25 years.
Cindy CohenA: The primary war we have made to release the encryption of government regulations is still as a step for a potentially safe internet. We are still trying to make this promise a reality, but if we have lost that struggle, we are in such a different place than we were. Encryption protects anyone who buys anything online, anyone who uses a signal to a whistle or journalist, or only ordinary people who want to have privacy and use whatsapp or signal. Even the background certificate authorities provided by our LET Encrypt-to make sure that you are really going to your bank’s website when you think you are going to your bank-are all possible because of encryption. These are all things that would have been at risk if we hadn’t won this fight. I think it was a fundamental victory, even if the fight does not end.
The fights around the NSA and national security are still ongoing. We were not successful with your big challenge for NSA spying Jewelry in front of NSAHowever, during the long arc of that case and legal disputes, we were able to lag behind a little bit of what the NSA began to do it after 9/11.
