Skip to content

Generated Source Mirror

This page is generated from the source Markdown file so it can be viewed inside the MkDocs site.

📝 Page Status: Draft — sourced but not yet reviewed

  • Status: draft
  • Sources: 10
  • Relationships: 9
  • Research debt items: 4

Cindy Cohn

Summary

Cindy Cohn is a civil liberties attorney who served as executive director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation from 2015 until June 2026 and was lead attorney in Bernstein v. DOJ, the landmark First Amendment challenge to cryptography export restrictions. She left staff on June 16, 2026. EFF said she was not retiring, and she wrote that she hoped to return to court. As of July 10, 2026 she had not announced a firm, a docket, or a way to hire her. She is not a contact for new legal work.

Verified Facts

  • The official EFF biography (archived) states Cohn first became involved with EFF in 1993, when EFF asked her to serve as the outside lead attorney in Bernstein v. Dept. of Justice.1
  • Bernstein v. DOJ was the successful First Amendment challenge to U.S. export restrictions on cryptography, which the EFF describes as a "landmark case that established code as speech and changed United States export regulations on encryption software, paving the way for international e-commerce."5
  • The court ruled that export control laws on encryption violated Bernstein's First Amendment rights by prohibiting his constitutionally protected speech, leading to regulatory changes that made it easier to publish encryption software online without U.S. government approval.6
  • Cohn became EFF's legal director in 2000.1
  • As legal director, she spearheaded EFF's lawsuits challenging the NSA's mass surveillance programs, including Jewel v. NSA, First Unitarian Church v. NSA, and Hepting v. AT&T.3
  • Jewel v. NSA (filed 2008) was ultimately rejected by the Supreme Court in June 2022 without a ruling on the merits, dismissed on state secrets grounds. No court ever ruled on whether the mass surveillance violated constitutional or statutory law.3
  • The Hepting v. AT&T case ended after Congress passed the FISA Amendments Act granting retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies.3
  • EFF announced in September 2025 that Cohn would step down by mid-2026 after more than 25 years with the organization, and that she planned to remain through a transition into early summer.2
  • On June 1, 2026, EFF said Nicole Ozer succeeded Cohn as executive director and that Cohn was leaving later that month “not to retire, but to find a role that puts her back in the courtroom.” The same post says she would remain part of the EFF community. It names no firm and no intake path.7 FOSS Force reported that plan the same day.4
  • On June 16, 2026, Cohn wrote that the day was her last day at EFF. She said that after a few months off she planned to get back into the fight for justice, “likely heading back into the courtroom.”8
  • On July 10, 2026, she told the San Francisco Standard she was “in this interregnum, talking to a bunch of organizations” about a next role and was “not quite sure yet,” and that she was “definitely not done.”9
  • She is not a contact for new legal matters. EFF’s contact page is the organization’s public path for legal assistance.10
  • She has been named one of the 100 most influential lawyers in America.1
  • Cohn is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School.1
  • Prior to joining EFF, she was a civil litigator in private practice handling technology-related cases for 10 years.1
  • She is the author of "Privacy's Defender" published by MIT Press in March 2026.2
  • Her archived EFF bio also documents work on CFAA reform, electronic voting security, DMCA 512(f) misuse (OPG v. Diebold), and the Sony BMG DRM case.1

Historical Context

Cohn's career at EFF spans the major digital rights battles of the internet era. She established the code-as-speech doctrine (Bernstein), fought mass surveillance (NSA cases), defended encryption rights, and advocated for CFAA reform after the Aaron Swartz case. Her staff role ended on June 16, 2026. Her statements about returning to court describe a plan, not a practice that is taking clients.

Relevance to Open Source and Software Companies

Cohn's litigation in Bernstein v. DOJ established that source code is protected speech under the First Amendment. The ruling led to regulatory changes that made it easier to publish encryption software online. That history is not a current engagement path. Requests for EFF legal help go through the organization’s contact page. Cohn had no public firm or intake path as of July 10, 2026.610

Relationships

Sources

  1. SRC-COHN-EFF-BIO: Cindy Cohn EFF Staff Biography (archived; original URL returns 403).
  2. SRC-COHN-EFF-DEPARTURE: EFF Press Release — Cindy Cohn Stepping Down.
  3. SRC-JEWEL-V-NSA-EFF: EFF Jewel v. NSA Case Page — Supreme Court Rejection.
  4. SRC-COHN-FOSSFORCE: FOSS Force — Cohn Returns to the Courtroom.
  5. SRC-BERNSTEIN-EFF-25: EFF at 25 — Remembering the Case that Established Code as Speech.
  6. SRC-BERNSTEIN-JUSTIA: Bernstein v. United States Department of Justice, 176 F.3d 1132 (9th Cir. 1999) (Justia).
  7. SRC-COHN-EFF-OZER-WELCOME: EFF post on Nicole Ozer’s start (byline June 1, 2026).
  8. SRC-COHN-EFF-FAREWELL: Cindy Cohn, “Onward, Friends” (June 16, 2026).
  9. SRC-COHN-SF-STANDARD-2026: San Francisco Standard interview (July 10, 2026).
  10. SRC-EFF-CONTACT: EFF contact page.

Research Debt

  • Verify whether Cohn has announced a firm, docket, or intake path after July 10, 2026.
  • Add detail on her CFAA reform work after Aaron Swartz with primary advocacy or legislative sources.
  • Create CASE-* pages and primary sources for First Unitarian Church v. NSA, Hepting v. AT&T, and OPG v. Diebold.
  • Corroborate self-reported biography claims with independent sources where possible.

Document metadata

  • Last verified: 2026-10-17

  1. SRC-COHN-EFF-BIO — Cindy Cohn EFF Staff Biography (archived; original URL returns 403). Self-reported profile; corroboration pending. ↩↩↩↩↩↩

  2. SRC-COHN-EFF-DEPARTURE — EFF Press Release — Cindy Cohn Stepping Down. Official press release. ↩↩

  3. SRC-JEWEL-V-NSA-EFF — EFF Jewel v. NSA Case Page — Supreme Court Rejection. Official case documentation. ↩↩↩

  4. SRC-COHN-FOSSFORCE — FOSS Force — Cohn Returns to the Courtroom. Secondary reporting. ↩

  5. SRC-BERNSTEIN-EFF-25 — EFF at 25 — Remembering the Case that Established Code as Speech. Secondary case summary. ↩

  6. SRC-BERNSTEIN-JUSTIA — Bernstein v. United States Department of Justice, 176 F.3d 1132 (9th Cir. 1999) (Justia). Primary authority. ↩↩

  7. SRC-COHN-EFF-OZER-WELCOME — EFF post on Nicole Ozer’s start (byline June 1, 2026). Official post. ↩

  8. SRC-COHN-EFF-FAREWELL — Cindy Cohn, “Onward, Friends” (June 16, 2026). Official post. ↩

  9. SRC-COHN-SF-STANDARD-2026 — San Francisco Standard interview (July 10, 2026). Edited interview. ↩

  10. SRC-EFF-CONTACT — EFF contact page. Official organizational record. ↩↩