Sindy Cohen leaves EFF, but not the struggle for digital rights

After a quarter Cindy Cohen announced on Tuesday that she is stepped as an executive director of the Electronic Border Foundation for the Electronic Border Foundation. Cohen, who has led non -profit in San Francisco since 2015, says she will leave the role later this year, as she concluded a chapter that helped define the modern battle on freedom online.

Cohen rose for the first time to the lead as a major lawyer in Bernstein against the Ministry of JusticeThe case of the nineties, which canceled federal restrictions on the spread of the encryption code. As the legal director of EFF and the subsequent executive director, the group led through legal challenges Government monitoringComputer crime laws, and efforts to hold companies accountable for data collection. Over the past decade, EFF expanded its influence, and has become a central force in the formation of debate on privacy, security and digital freedom.

In an interview with WIRED, Cohn was reflected in EFF’s encoding victories, its incomplete battles against National Security Agency Control (NSA)The work of the organization protects independent security researchers. I talked about the balance of the changing power between companies and governments, pushing for privacy laws at the state level, and the increasing risks posed by artificial intelligence.

Although he stepped out of leadership, Cohen tells that she is planning to stay active in combating collective monitoring and government secret. She says her intention is to describe herself as a “more warrior than the manager”, and she returns to the call to the front lines. She is also working on a coming book, Privacy defenderIt is scheduled to come out next spring, which hopes to inspire a new generation of digital rights advocates.

This interview was released for length and clarity.

Wire: Tell us about the battles that I won, and those that still feel incomplete after 25 years.

Cohen Cohen: The early battle we conducted to release the encryption of government regulations remains that it determines the way for the Internet to be safe. We are still working to turn this promise into a reality, but we are in a different place from what we were in if we lost that battle. The encryption protects anyone who buys anything via the Internet, or any person who uses the signal to be informed or journalists, or just ordinary people who want privacy and use WhatsApp or signal. Even the rear authorities provided by the back interface provided by the Let’s Encrypt-which make sure that when you think you are going to your bank, you are actually on your web-all possible due to encryption. These are all things that were in danger if we did not win in that battle. I think the victory was essential, although the battles are not over.

The battles that we went through about the National Security and National Security Agency are still working. We did not succeed in our great challenge in spying the National Security Agency in JEWEL V. NsaDespite the long arc of this issue and the accompanying legislative battles, we have been able to return to a large extent from NSA after September 11.