TL;DR: Cindy Cohn, EFF's executive director for the past decade, is publishing Privacy's Defender: My Thirty-Year Fight Against Digital Surveillance on March 10, 2026. The memoir covers the Crypto Wars, post-9/11 NSA surveillance, and FBI gag order battles, told by the lawyer who won many of those fights. A national book tour kicks off March 7 at SCALE 23x and runs through late March. Edward Snowden endorsed it as "an inspiring call to action." All hardcover proceeds go to EFF.
Who Is Cindy Cohn?
If you've ever sent an encrypted message, Cohn is part of the reason it's legal.
She joined EFF in 1993 as outside counsel for Bernstein v. Department of Justice, the case that established encryption source code as protected speech under the First Amendment. The government had classified crypto software as a munition, the same category as missiles. Cohn helped overturn those export restrictions.[1]
She became EFF's Legal Director in 2000, then Executive Director in 2015. Along the way, she led or coordinated:
- Hepting v. AT&T (2006): The first lawsuit against telecoms for warrantless wiretapping[2]
- Jewel v. NSA: Challenging the dragnet surveillance Edward Snowden exposed[2]
- First Unitarian Church v. NSA: Arguing that mass surveillance chills religious and political association[2]
- Over 40 class-action lawsuits against telecoms and the government over warrantless surveillance[2]
- In re National Security Letter: Challenging unconstitutional gag orders in the USA Patriot Act[2]
In 2013, the National Law Journal named her one of the 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America. Forbes put her on the 2018 list of America's Top 50 Women in Tech.[2]
In September 2025, Cohn announced she'd step down as EFF's executive director by mid-2026.[3] This book is her parting gift: a 30-year archive from someone who was in the room.
What the Book Covers
Privacy's Defender isn't an abstract policy book. Cohn lived this history. She's writing about battles she fought and sometimes lost.
According to EFF's announcement, the book covers:[4]
The Crypto Wars (1990s)
When the U.S. government tried to ban strong encryption and lost. Cohn was lead counsel on the case that ended it.
NSA Dragnet Surveillance
The post-9/11 programs Snowden blew the whistle on, and EFF's decade-long fight to stop them in court.
FBI Gag Orders
The Patriot Act's National Security Letters came with lifetime silence orders. EFF fought to let recipients speak.
Why Privacy Matters
Cohn argues digital privacy is foundational to every other right, including the right to organize and fight back.
Senator Ron Wyden, one of the few members of Congress who's consistently fought surveillance expansion, praised the book for offering "a first-person window into pivotal legal disputes."[4]
Edward Snowden called it "a compelling account" and "an inspiring call to action."[4]
The Book Tour
Cohn is hitting the road with some heavy-hitter co-panelists:[4]
The Berkeley event on March 12 is the official EFF launch party. The Cambridge event with Jonathan Zittrain (founder of Harvard's Berkman Klein Center) should draw serious policy wonks.
Why This Matters Now
The timing isn't accidental.
Section 702 of FISA (the surveillance authority Cohn has fought for years) sunsets in 50 days. Congress is debating whether to reauthorize warrantless searches of Americans' communications. ICE is deploying facial recognition at protests. Meta just announced real-time face scanning for smart glasses.
This is what Cohn's career has been about: fighting each new surveillance technology as it emerges, building legal precedents, losing some battles and winning others.
The book lands as Cohn prepares to hand the reins to someone else. It's both a history lesson and a warning: these fights never end. The technology changes. The government's appetite for surveillance doesn't.
How to Get the Book
Privacy's Defender: My Thirty-Year Fight Against Digital Surveillance releases March 10, 2026 from MIT Press.
- Publisher: MIT Press
- Format: Hardcover
- Proceeds: All hardcover sales benefit EFF[4]
Available through EFF's official book page, MIT Press, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, and independent bookstores.
If you want to support both the author and the organization that's been fighting surveillance for 35 years, buying through EFF's link is the move.