Kurt Opsahl Moves to EFF Special Counsel

Longtime EFFer and Deputy Executive Director and General Counsel Kurt Opsahl will be moving on from the Electronic Frontier Foundation after nearly 20 years, on February 1. But we aren’t going to let him go too far: Kurt will continue on as a Special Counsel of EFF.  Kurt will be joining the Filecoin Foundation as Associate General Counsel for Cybersecurity and Civil Liberties Policy.

Kurt joined EFF in 2004, and has been a key part of nearly every big fight for digital rights since then. Over the years, he established the reporters’ privilege for online journalists, has been our lead attorney helping security researchers on the Coders’ Rights Project, fought against copyright trolls and warrantless mass surveillance, and represented a number of companies who challenged secret National Security Letters. He’s been a big part of bringing EFF’s message to the world, talking to reporters about everything from TikTok to Tornado Cash to the metaverse, in outlets ranging from the New York Times to Popular Science to BBC News to the Washington Post.

Many EFF supporters know Kurt from his years spreading the word about EFF at security conferences like DEF CON, one of the oldest and largest hacker conventions in the world. As Special Counsel, Kurt will continue to be providing pro bono legal advice and counsel to the security community with the Coders Rights Project, so keep an eye out for him at DEF CON and elsewhere. Thank you so much for your work at EFF until now, Kurt, and for your upcoming work on as one of our Special Counsel, and, of course, as Quizmaster for our annual Cyberlaw Trivia Night.