Cindy Cohn

Cindy Cohn is a lawyer, author and digital rights pioneer who for the last decade was Executive Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the leading digital rights nonprofit, where she spearheaded a team of more than 120 lawyers, activists, and technologists dedicated to ensuring that technology supports speech, privacy, and innovation for all the people of the world. Cindy is the author of "Privacy's Defender: My Thirty-Year Fight Against Digital Surveillance," her 2026 memoir that chronicles the pivotal role she played in for some of the most consequential fights over digital rights since the internet became part of everyday life. From 2000-2015 she served as EFF’s Legal Director as well as its General Counsel.  After 25 years leading EFF's work against government spying and our right to keep our conversations private in the digital age, Cindy stepped down from the organization in June to return to front line advocacy.