cypherpunk society
Operational security, counter-surveillance, cognitive resilience, and open-source freedom infrastructure at Frontier Tower, San Francisco.
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Join on Matrix · Discord, Signal & Jitsi
Contact contact@cypherpunksociety.org (PGP)
what we do
Privacy and cognitive autonomy require active defense and shared infrastructure. Born in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1992 out of The WELL, Community Memory, and toad.com—and inspired by interdisciplinary spaces like Paris's La Paillasse and La Quadrature du Net (π)—the Cypherpunk Society equips builders, researchers, and investigative minds through hands-on practice:
- Surveillance Self-Defense & Freedom OS: Weekly hands-on clinics running EFF's Surveillance Self-Defense curriculum, Tails OS USB verification & flashing, Qubes OS, and GrapheneOS.
- Threat Intelligence & Cognitive Security: Dissecting commercial spyware reports from The Citizen Lab (UofT) and collaborating with the Stanford Cognitive Security Task Force on AI persuasion, information integrity, and neurotech/BCI privacy.
- Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT): Tracking Bellingcat investigative toolkits and cross-border public-interest reporting from OCCRP.
- Hacker Pedagogy & Open Web Spirit: Screening Chaos Computer Club (CCC) lectures and running participatory sessions in the spirit of MozFest, Aaron Swartz Day (with SecureDrop & the Internet Archive), the RSA Conference city-wide key-signing party, and the DEF CON Biohacking Village.
- Public-Interest Bandwidth: Advocating for and operating Tor Snowflake proxies, obfs4 bridges, and non-profit relay partnerships (Emerald Onion & Nos Oignons).
how to get involved
Drop into a weekly session at Frontier Tower or join our decentralized channels from anywhere:
| Cadence | Session | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Tue 6:00 PM | OpSec & Tails Clinic | EFF Surveillance Self-Defense walkthrough & bootable Tails OS flashing station (In-Person, Frontier Tower). |
| Thu 12:30 PM | OSINT & Speaker Stage | Bellingcat toolkit briefings, OCCRP investigations, and guest speakers (Discord Stage + Jitsi + Tower Lounge). |
| Biweekly Wed 7:00 PM | Citizen Lab & Cognitive Security | Alternating deep dives into Citizen Lab spyware reports and Stanford CSTF cognitive & neuro-security research. |
| Biweekly Fri 8:00 PM | CCC Media Night & Salon | Screenings from media.ccc.de and resident lightning talks. |
| 1st Sat 1:00 PM | Bandwidth Hackathon & Key Signing | Tor Snowflake/bridge deployments, PGP key signing, and OSINT CTFs. |
find us at frontier tower, san francisco
The Cypherpunk Society was started at Frontier Tower (995 Market St, San Francisco, CA 94103 — between 5th & 6th St, two blocks from Powell St BART).
You don't need to be in San Francisco to contribute, and we encourage hackerspaces, universities, and vertical villages everywhere to spin up local chapters.
- San Francisco, CA — Frontier Tower (995 Market St)
Not in San Francisco? Clone us and start your own chapter!