Reintroducing the EFA

We're thrilled to share that the Electronic Frontier Alliance (EFA) has a fresh new look and a wealth of new resources for community organizers. EFF can’t be everywhere and in every fight, which is why back in 2016 we committed to building a network with grassroots organizations, and made the EFA a critical part of our work. Local organizers from within the community are better situated to build support and change in the long term. So when civil liberties and digital rights are under threat in your neck of the woods, we hope you find or become a local EFA member.

After eight very eventful years for local organizing, the EFA is going strong with over 70 active groups across the United States. To renew our support of the network, EFF revamped the look of the EFA and made a number of improvements to our online hub for all things EFA: https://efa.eff.org.

But the network is bigger than EFF. EFA is composed of its members, and relies on dedicated local advocates, educators, and hackers to help drive the work forward. If you’re part of a not-for-profit community group, we encourage you to apply.

JOIN EFA

Defend Digital Rights Locally

What is the EFA?

The Electronic Frontier Alliance (EFA) is an information-sharing network of grassroots groups across the United States, administered by EFF’s team of organizers. All groups are totally independent—meaning no one is obliged to follow EFF’s lead to be supported. The result is a network with incredibly diverse beliefs, focuses, and tactics; from hacker spaces developing open-source software tools, to community ISPs, to student groups hosting surveillance self-defense workshops. A few things do unify alliance members, though. All groups must be tied to a local community, meaning their work is based in a specific region or institution, with meaningful ways for other community members to get involved. Groups must also be not-for-profit; either unincorporated or registered as a non-profit. Finally, all member organizations publicly endorse EFA’s five core principles:

- Free expression: People should be able to speak their minds to whomever will listen.

- Security: Technology should be trustworthy and answer to its users.

- Privacy: Technology should allow private and anonymous speech, and let users set their own parameters about what to share with whom.

- Creativity: Technology should promote progress by allowing people to build on the ideas, creations, and inventions of others.

- Access to knowledge: Curiosity should be rewarded, not stifled.

How EFF supports EFA members

EFF is committed to building and strengthening the EFA network. EFF doesn’t bottleneck on-the-ground activists, or parachute into local communities with marching orders. Instead, we aim to build the network in autonomous and decentralized ways, helping build local power through base-building, and fostering more connections between aligned groups.

That’s not to say we stay on the sidelines: EFF’s organizers respond to requests from community groups with hands-on support. This includes helping to create an effective local campaign, host successful events, write a local op-ed, or tackle the administrative headaches faced by new and growing groups. We also lend EFF’s platform by promoting local work. In short, membership comes with an EFF support-line which, pending capacity, can help make local work more impactful.

EFF’s organizing team also brings groups together with a number of member-only convenings. Exclusive EFA videoconferences are hosted every month, with talks and workshops from digital rights and organizing experts, as well as an opportunity to brainstorm or workshop work with other organizers in the network. Organizers also regularly host in-person EFA meetups and socials, and will leverage EFF’s network to assist with local networking necessary for coalition work. EFF also hosts multiple socials and in-person EFA meetups exclusive to members across the country throughout the year.

As an added bonus, EFA groups also get discounts on