Ep544_Privacy Is the New Counterculture

About this episode

Stewart Alsop discusses digital privacy and surveillance with Cindy Cohn of the EFF.

In this episode of the Crazy Wisdom Podcast, host Stewart Alsop sits down with Cindy Cohn, Executive Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), for a wide-ranging conversation covering the EFF's origins and mission, the countercultural roots of Silicon Valley, the rise of surveillance-based business models, the challenges facing open source software and open-weight AI models, the legal landscape around intellectual property and privacy law, and the growing tension between government overreach and civil liberties in the digital age. Cindy also discusses her upcoming departure from EFF after 26 years, the transition to new leadership, and her recently published book Privacy's Defender , which chronicles key legal battles she fought to protect digital privacy rights. Links mentioned: - EFF website: eff.org - Privacy's Defender book: eff.org/privacysdefender Timestamps 00:00 - Stewart introduces Cindy Cohn, EFF Executive Director, who explains the organization's mission protecting digital rights since 1990. 05:00 - Cindy connects counterculture roots to early internet idealism, describing how digital communication broke down physical barriers for organizing. 10:00 - Cindy…

People in this episode

Host: Stewart Alsop III

Guest: Cindy Cohn

Topics covered

• privacy
• counterculture
• digital rights
• surveillance
• open source
• civil liberties

Keywords

• privacy
• surveillance
• digital rights
• Cindy Cohn
• EFF
• open source
• civil liberties

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Electronic Frontier Foundation

Books & works: Privacy's Defender

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