When Cindy Cohn began drafting her memoir, Privacy's Defender, in 2022, she feared warning about state surveillance sounded outdated. As the Electronic Frontier Foundation's longtime executive director, she remembered the 90s shift from government spying to corporate data misuse. She thought the industry battle had moved permanently to Big Tech accountability.

Then the political climate shifted. Following the 2025 election, federal immigration operations expanded rapidly, relying heavily on surveillance infrastructure. Automated license plate readers and facial recognition networks became standard tools for enforcement. Communities responded by disabling Flock safety cameras, while the Department of Homeland Security attempted to de-anonymize critics on social platforms.

EFF has since filed suits protecting the right to document enforcement activity anonymously. Cohn's book details early legal battles where engineers and hackers explained encryption to judges, establishing privacy baselines now under pressure. She notes the current administration operates with overt transparency compared to predecessors, openly demanding user data from platforms like Meta or app removals from Apple.

For data engineers, the implication is clear: the pipelines built for engagement are now conduits for state action. Cohn's work highlights how subpoena authority expanded under national security pretenses, creating the architecture for today's conflicts. As EFF transitions leadership, the focus returns to limiting how deeply government agencies can integrate with private data systems. The tech isn't neutral, and the legal frameworks protecting it are being stress-tested again. Engineers building these systems must recognize that data retention policies today become evidence tomorrow. The boundary between commercial analytics and government intelligence is thinner than it appeared four years ago.

Source: Ars Technica