Episode
07 July 2026 Official episode · Official transcript
policy/law
Nick Merrill describes receiving a National Security Letter, challenging its secrecy and warrantless demands with the ACLU, and later developing privacy-focused technology through Calyx and Phreeli. Cindy Cohn discusses related Electronic Frontier Foundation litigation against NSLs.
Topics: National Security Letters and nondisclosure orders, Title 18 U.S. Code Section 2709, Government access to customer and subscriber information, Warrantless information demands and probable-cause oversight, Constitutional challenges involving the First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendments, Privacy by design, End-to-end or strong encryption as a limitation on compelled disclosure, Metadata and location-data minimization, Privacy-focused mobile operating systems, Android de-Googling and telemetry reduction, Anonymous or unlinkable mobile-service vouchers, DDoS protection
Links published on the Darknet Diaries episode page. Not LLM output.
Qualified statements from this episode, not graph facts.
Calyx DEVELOPED_BY Nick Merrill
Nick Merrill says he started the internet service provider Calyx and later pivoted it into a privacy-focused company.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Jack Rhysider EP 176 Details
“The name of the ISP was called Calyx”
“So, he pivoted with his company, Calyx.”
New York Civil Liberties Union ASSOCIATED_WITH Calyx
The New York Civil Liberties Union was one of the first organizations to get online through Nick Merrill's ISP and remained a client he hosted.
Explicit Confidence 97% · Nick Merrill EP 176 Details
“one of the first organizations that I got online was called the New York Civil Liberties Union”
“NYCLU is still kind of a client of mine at that time”
National Security Letter ASSOCIATED_WITH National Security Letter Provision
Nick identifies Title 18 U.S. Code Section 2709 as the National Security Letter Provision underlying the letter he received.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Nick Merrill EP 176 Details
“Section 2709 is the National Security Letter Provision”
National Security Letter Provision ASSOCIATED_WITH USA PATRIOT Act
Nick says the National Security Letter Provision had been amended multiple times, with its most recent amendment occurring under the USA PATRIOT Act.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Nick Merrill EP 176 Details
“the last time it was amended was under the Patriot Act”
National Security Letter ASSOCIATED_WITH FBI
The letter Nick received demanded information about one of his clients and was delivered as an FBI request.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Nick Merrill EP 176 Details
“I’m calling from the FBI and we have a letter for you”
“the FBI wanted all this information from me about one of the clients of the company”
Doe vs. Ashcroft INVOLVES National Security Letter
The Doe vs. Ashcroft constitutional challenge concerned the National Security Letter Nick received.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Nick Merrill EP 176 Details
“We filed a legal challenge, a constitutional challenge, to the validity of the national security letter provision of the Patriot Act”
“the case was called Doe vs. Ashcroft”
Doe vs. Ashcroft INVOLVES American Civil Liberties Union
The ACLU represented Nick Merrill in the Doe vs. Ashcroft challenge.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Jack Rhysider EP 176 Details
“the ACLU entered the courtroom to represent Nick Merrill in this case”
Doe vs. Ashcroft INVOLVES Department of Justice
Nick says the case was brought against the Department of Justice and the FBI.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Nick Merrill EP 176 Details
“The case was against the Department of Justice and the FBI”
Doe vs. Ashcroft INVOLVES FBI
Nick says the case was brought against the FBI as well as the Department of Justice.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Nick Merrill EP 176 Details
“The case was against the Department of Justice and the FBI”
Doe vs. Ashcroft ASSOCIATED_WITH National Security Letter Provision
The district judge in Doe vs. Ashcroft declared the National Security Letter provision unconstitutional, but stayed the decision during the government's appeal.
Explicit Confidence 98% · Nick Merrill EP 176 Details
“the judge issued a decision saying this is unconstitutional”
“I’m issuing a stay on the decision”
Doe vs. Gonzales INVOLVES Doe vs. Ashcroft
The case continued under the name Doe vs. Gonzales after John Ashcroft was no longer attorney general; the case was merged with the librarians' challenge.
Explicit Confidence 97% · Jack Rhysider EP 176 Details
“the case got changed to Doe. vs. Gonzales”
“They decided to merge my case with the librarians’ case”
Doe vs. Mukasey ASSOCIATED_WITH National Security Letter Provision
In the later appeal, the judge again found the suppression of speech unconstitutional but stayed the ruling; the account presents this as a continuation of the NSL challenge.
Explicit Confidence 97% · Jack Rhysider EP 176 Details
“this case was renamed to Doe vs. Mukasey”
“The judge declared the suppression of speech to be unconstitutional, but again, the judge issued a stay”
Merrill vs. Lynch INVOLVES National Security Letter
Merrill vs. Lynch concerned lifting the gag order associated with Nick's National Security Letter after the government withdrew the letter.
Explicit Confidence 98% · Jack Rhysider EP 176 Details
“this case changed to Doe vs. Holder”
“this case ended up being called Merrill vs. Lynch”
Merrill vs. Lynch INVOLVES Department of Justice
Nick says he settled with the government in an agreement that stopped the case and removed his gag order so he could tell the story.
Explicit Confidence 98% · Nick Merrill EP 176 Details
“We made a settlement with the government at that point”
“they would un-gag me and let me tell the story of what happened”
Case Q INVOLVES CREDO Mobile
Case Q was the EFF's coded case for CREDO Mobile's challenge to the NSL it received.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Cindy Cohn EP 176 Details
“our client was a little phone company called CREDO Mobile”
“this case with CREDO, the telecom provider, was called Case Q”
Case Q INVOLVES National Security Letter
CREDO Mobile challenged the National Security Letter it had received.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Cindy Cohn EP 176 Details
“they wanted to fight the NSL that they received”
Case Z INVOLVES Cloudflare
Case Z was the EFF's coded case for Cloudflare's challenge after Cloudflare received an NSL.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Cindy Cohn EP 176 Details
“Cloudflare had received an NSL”
“the case with Cloudflare they called Case Z”
Case W INVOLVES CREDO Mobile
Case W was another EFF lawsuit involving CREDO after it received another NSL.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Jack Rhysider EP 176 Details
“almost immediately upon CREDO winning their first case, they got served another NSL”
“the EFF called that Case W”
Cindy Cohn AUTHORED Privacy’s Defender
Cindy Cohn says she wrote Privacy’s Defender, which documents her battle with NSLs and other digital-rights cases.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Jack Rhysider EP 176 Details
“she just published a new book called Privacy’s Defender”
“I wrote the book in part because”
Jack says Calyx created CalyxOS as part of its privacy-focused work.
Explicit Confidence 98% · Jack Rhysider EP 176 Details
“the stuff that they’re most notable for is the CalyxOS and the Calyx hotspot”
CalyxOS is described as taking Android and removing Google components and telemetry.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Jack Rhysider EP 176 Details
“What they did is they took the Android OS, ripped out all the Google stuff”
Phreeli DEVELOPED_BY Nick Merrill
Nick says he started the mobile phone company Phreeli and designed it around privacy by design.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Nick Merrill EP 176 Details
“I started a mobile phone company”
“I built a company called Phreeli”
Phreeli USES encryption
Phreeli uses extensive encryption to make its phone service more private and limit linkability between customers and phone numbers.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Jack Rhysider EP 176 Details
“He uses a ton of encryption”
Phreeli USES metadata minimization
Phreeli is designed to collect and retain as little customer information and metadata as possible.
Explicit Confidence 98% · Nick Merrill EP 176 Details
“you can sign up and give as little as just your zip code”
“I log as little as possible”
Phreeli ASSOCIATED_WITH privacy by design
Nick explicitly says Phreeli applies the principle of privacy by design to mobile phone service.
Explicit Confidence 99% · Nick Merrill EP 176 Details
“trying to use the whole principle of privacy by design”
Works mentioned in the transcript. Distinct from show-note sources.
Model gpt-5.6-luna · prompt 1.5.19 · schema 1.5.19 · 2026-09-13T09:02:56.516779+00:00