Update 1, November 23, 2025 (19:03 UTC): Rory Mir, the project lead for EFA at EFF, reached out to Privacy Guides on Signal to share some additional details.

EFA members were notified at the beginning of the month over email, and we held a virtual town hall for Q&A. We decided to close the website on the 20th as we were still receiving applications, and that is the date we restructured internally for the change. That said, current EFA members are getting the same level of support through the end of the year, and we have every intention of continuing to work with them.

According to Rory, EFA members received a high level of support from EFA, which required an application process and limited who was eligible to join:

In the new year we're ending some of the support entirely, like event promotion and in-person EFA events. However we are maintaining others in a new process, like local campaign assistance and security trainer training. This support will also now be open to more advocates who reach out to EFF, without navigating an EFA membership process.

A current EFA member also sent us a copy of an email sent out to allies earlier this month, which also shared some of these details, as well as noted a new "EFF-Allies" initiative that would be coming next year:

[...] What this means for you is that on November 20th, EFF will publicly retire the EFA and archive the online site including the ally directory. [...]
The new year won’t be the end of our community, though. We’re continuing to support our network through a new online space—EFF-Allies. This will be a continuation of much of what made the Alliance special: collaboration, resource-sharing, and camaraderie among local digital rights supporters. Former EFA groups will all be welcome, as well as a broader tent of trusted local organizers. [...]

I asked Rory about this program, who said they would be leading these collaborative efforts in their new role, and would be sharing more details publicly in the new year.

I've received questions from multiple community members about the EFA's member directory, which allowed people to find local activism groups close by. Rory said that they didn't have public details to share about the directory or a potential replacement, but "it is distinct from the promotional support we are ending for events," and that the EFF blog hopes to continue to highlighting local groups going forward.

Original article, November 23, 2025 (06:25 UTC): The Electronic Frontier Alliance has officially ended. In a brief statement on efa.eff.org, the Electronic Frontier Foundation stated that the EFA "concluded on November 20, 2025."

The Electronic Frontier Alliance was a grassroots network of community organizations in the United States supporting digital rights in their local communities. Just last year, EFF posted about "reintroducing the EFA" to their blog, so the sudden shutdown comes as a bit of a surprise.

In their closure statement, EFF stated that they will continue to explore ways to engage with local advocates and provide support, and that toolkits which were developed for the EFA will remain available.

For nearly a decade, the Alliance brought together grassroots advocates, technologists, and community groups working to advance digital rights. Its strength came from the relationships and collaboration these groups built with one another, and from the shared commitment to open technology and civil liberties that defined the network.

Privacy Guides has reached out to EFF for comment, and will provide an update if we receive a response.

This change comes amidst a lot of changes at the EFF as of late. In September, they launched a search for a new Executive Director, as Cindy Cohn announced she would be stepping down from the role after 25 years of service with the non-profit.

It's unfortunate the program seems to have been shut down with seemingly very little fanfare. Outside of the notice on their website, EFF did not issue a press release or announcement, and I have not found other publications picking up this story.

As recently as a month ago, the EFF was still actively posting to social media encouraging people to start their own EFA-affiliated group or find existing ones:

If you are part of a local EFA member organization, please reach out to us if you have any more insights into this, or received notice from EFF internally.