Electronic Frontier Foundation
In April of 1990, a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent walked into the home of John Perry Barlow in California. The agent did not understand how computers worked or what the internet was. Barlow spent hours explaining basic concepts to the visitor who seemed confused by the technology. This encounter happened during Operation Sundevil, a massive law enforcement crackdown on cybercrime that targeted many individuals and groups. Barlow later wrote about this experience for The WELL online community. He argued that the government's heavy-handed tactics created an urgent need for a civil rights organization dedicated to digital liberties. Mitch Kapor contacted Barlow after reading his account because he had faced similar confusion from law enforcement agents. The two men agreed they needed to defend civil liberties on the Internet. They began raising funds to support legal defense against abusive government actions.
Early in 1990, United States Secret Service agents raided the offices of Steve Jackson Games in Texas. They seized computer equipment and floppy disks containing game materials like GURPS Cyberpunk. Agents mistakenly labeled the game as a handbook for computer crime despite it being a role-playing game. The search warrant appeared hastily issued and the company claimed unauthorized access to their email systems. This raid became the Electronic Frontier Foundation's first high-profile case and served as a major rallying point for its early work. Later cases included Bernstein v. United States where programmer Daniel J. Bernstein sued the government over encryption software called Snuffle. By the mid-1990s the group focused on Data Encryption Standard export restrictions. They built special purpose hardware known as Deep Crack costing $210,000. This machine broke DES encryption codes down to 56 hours by the 17th of July 1998 and under 24 hours by the 19th of January 1999. The EFF published all plans and source code for this project within four years before Advanced Encryption Standard replaced DES.
The organization originally operated from Mitch Kapor's Kapor Enterprises offices in Boston during its founding year. By fall of 1993, main offices consolidated into Washington DC under Executive Director Jerry Berman. Some members disliked the focus on national policy influence at that time. In 1994, Berman left to form the Center for Democracy and Technology while Drew Taubman briefly led the group. Lori Fena became executive director in 1995 and moved operations to San Francisco California. The group took temporary residence at John Gilmore's Toad Hall before moving to Hamm's Building at 1550 Bryant Street. Tara Lemmey and Barry Steinhardt served as interim leaders before Shari Steele became executive director. Cindy Cohn joined as legal director alongside Mike Godwin who departed shortly after. Spring 2006 saw an office reopen in Washington DC with two new staff attorneys. April 2013 marked completion of renovation work at 815 Eddy Street serving as new headquarters. Shari Steele stepped down as executive director on the 1st of April 2015 allowing Cindy Cohn to take over leadership roles.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation advocated for paper audit trails following the 2004 United States presidential election. Staff funded research by Hariprasad Vemuru exposing vulnerabilities in specific voting machine models. Since 2008 they operated Our Vote Live website documenting irregularities during elections day. In spring 2018 the group joined Open Technology Institute writing The Santa Clara Principles outlining content moderation guidelines. These rules required social networks to make statistics publicly available and notify banned users clearly. Users must have opportunity to appeal decisions read by human reviewers. Six months later organizations sought support from roughly 80 others including Article 19 calling for Facebook adoption. In 2019 EFF launched TOSsed out website documenting inconsistent application of moderation rules. December 2022 brought Protect the Stack initiative asking internet infrastructure providers to stop policing website content. This campaign followed Drop Kiwi Farms where service providers revoked access to controversial forums. Coalition members argued platforms better positioned to moderate specific content granularly than infrastructure providers.
The organization developed software tools including Switzerland, HTTPS Everywhere, and Privacy Badger for browser add-ons. A Secure Messaging Scorecard project evaluated apps based on seven criteria ranging from encryption in transit to code audits. In 2011 EFF received $1 million from Google as part of a privacy settlement involving Google Buzz. An additional $1 million came from Facebook through similar settlements though critics protested these arrangements. The group organizes two award sets promoting work aligned with its goals. EFF Awards recognize individuals extending freedom and innovation on electronic frontier like Chelsea Manning honored in 2017. Cooperative Computing Awards encourage ordinary Internet users contributing to solving huge scientific problems discovering prime numbers. One prize awarded the 6th of April 2000 offered $50,000 for finding primes with at least 1,000,000 decimal digits. Another prize given the 14th of October 2009 provided $100,000 for discoveries reaching 10,000,000 decimal digits. Two larger prizes remain unclaimed offering $150,000 and $250,000 respectively for higher digit counts.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation published its first book in 1993 titled The Big Dummy's Guide to the Internet by Adam Gaffin. MIT Press released paperback version Everybody's Guide to the Internet in 1994 available free download in many formats. Second book Protecting Yourself Online appeared in 1998 written by Robert B. Gelman and Stanton McCandlish through HarperCollins. Third book Cracking DES: Secrets of Encryption Research Wiretap Politics Chip Design focused on their hardware project published same year by O'Reilly Media. Digital anthology Pwning Tomorrow produced in 2015 included contributions from 22 writers including Charlie Jane Anders and Neil Gaimme. DeepLinks blog serves as major section of main website EFF.org. How to Fix the Internet podcast won 2024 Anthem Award recognizing audio content quality. In late June 2014 group flew blimp over NSA Bluffdale Utah Data Center protesting illegal spying activities. Psychological Industries issued buttons featuring pop culture tropes like Laughing Man logo replacing Catcher in Rye quote with Anonymous slogan. Charity Navigator rated EFF overall rating 100% as four-star charity demonstrating financial transparency.
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Common questions
When was the Electronic Frontier Foundation founded and who were its founders?
The Electronic Frontier Foundation was founded in April 1990 by John Perry Barlow and Mitch Kapor. These two men established the organization after encountering law enforcement agents during Operation Sundevil and realizing the need for digital civil rights protection.
What was the first high-profile case handled by the Electronic Frontier Foundation?
The Electronic Frontier Foundation's first major case involved a raid on Steve Jackson Games offices in Texas early in 1990. Agents seized computer equipment and floppy disks containing game materials like GURPS Cyberpunk while mistakenly labeling the role-playing game as a handbook for computer crime.
Where are the main headquarters of the Electronic Frontier Foundation located today?
The Electronic Frontier Foundation maintains its primary headquarters at 815 Eddy Street in San Francisco California since April 2013. The group previously operated from Washington DC before moving operations to San Francisco under Executive Director Lori Fena in 1995.
How much money did the Electronic Frontier Foundation raise through Google and Facebook settlements?
The Electronic Frontier Foundation received $1 million from Google in 2011 as part of a privacy settlement involving Google Buzz. An additional $1 million came from Facebook through similar settlements though critics protested these arrangements.
When did the Electronic Frontier Foundation break DES encryption codes with Deep Crack?
The Electronic Frontier Foundation broke Data Encryption Standard codes down to 56 hours by the 17th of July 1998 using their Deep Crack machine. The system achieved results in under 24 hours by the 19th of January 1999 after costing $210,000 to build.