Nicole Ozer has been appointed as executive director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation effective June 1. The move marks a significant transition for one of the most influential digital rights organisations in the United States at a time when privacy concerns have moved from the margins to the centre of policy debates.
From 2004-2025, Ozer was founding director of the Technology and Civil Liberties Program at the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California. Her track record in privacy law and technology policy spans more than two decades. She spearheaded passage of the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act, the nation's strongest electronic surveillance law, requiring a warrant for government access to electronic information. She modernised California law to protect reading records in the digital age by helping to craft the Reader Privacy Act requiring a 'super warrant' for government access.
Beyond legislative work, Ozer has also been a prolific writer and researcher. She currently serves as the inaugural executive director of the Center for Constitutional Democracy at the University of California College of the Law in San Francisco. Her scholarship has examined how privacy frameworks can actually serve ordinary people rather than remaining abstract principles.
Ozer succeeds Cindy Cohn, who has been with EFF for more than 25 years and served as its executive director since 2015. Cohn co-hosted EFF's award-winning "How to Fix the Internet" podcast and published her memoir, Privacy's Defender: My Thirty-Year Fight Against Digital Surveillance, in March by MIT Press.
The EFF itself has evolved considerably since its founding in 1990. The organisation champions user privacy, free expression, and innovation through impact litigation, policy analysis, grassroots activism, and technology development, with a mission to ensure that technology supports freedom, justice, and innovation for all people of the world.
Ozer faces a landscape where the threats to digital freedom have intensified considerably. The stakes centre on two major challenges. First, government agencies have become increasingly willing to purchase commercial surveillance data rather than seeking warrants. Second, artificial intelligence has created new complexities around how technology might either protect or erode individual autonomy.
When asked about her vision, Ozer has acknowledged the weight of the moment without overcommitting to specific policy platforms. She emphasised the importance of ensuring that technology "works for people" rather than concentrating benefits among the few. She stated that "EFF's global work to defend and advance rights, justice, and democracy in the digital age is fundamental to the future of our countries, our livelihoods, and literally our lives."
EFF Board Chair Gigi Sohn said "Nicole Ozer is the ideal person to lead EFF during this unprecedented time in our nation's history" and noted that "she possesses all of the qualities necessary to lead the organisation: great vision, strong management skills and deep substantive knowledge."
Ozer's appointment represents continuity with EFF's mission whilst also signalling a potential shift in emphasis. Her background in state-level privacy legislation suggests the organisation may place greater focus on federalist approaches to digital rights, where state governments serve as laboratories for privacy protections. This approach contrasts with purely federal advocacy and recognises that technology companies already comply with California's rules, making state-level victories potentially high-impact.
The real test will come once Ozer settles into the role. The EFF's work spans litigation, policy development, and public education on digital rights, requiring the new director to balance competing priorities in an organisation with a global reach. Whether she can navigate the growing complexity of artificial intelligence policy whilst maintaining EFF's core focus on user privacy and free expression will shape the organisation's trajectory over the coming years.