The DFE is a loosely affiliated group of individuals that stay in contact through various high-security and well obfuscated network connections. They have leadership and no formal organization outside of a general shared desire to restore privacy in a post-privacy era.

DFE isn't an organization that actively recruits, though individuals that are highly active in the security and privacy communities often find their way to DFE members as there is a lot of overlap between the highest levels of those communities and membership of DFE.

Security specialists contributed a tiny fraction of the developers responsible for the AI and systems on Yelton Veda. Some of these individuals were also responsible for generating the code to manage the surveillance and security systems which were increasingly used to track and exploit every moment of colonists lives in the pursuit of productivity. These few would also be at the forefront of fighting against the tracking services being employed on Yelton Veda, eventually assisting with the newly merged Machine Exemplar and its take over of the factions on the colony.

While they would never quite destroy the tracking infrastructure on the colony, they would set the groundwork for the DFE, developing numerous ways of covertly conveying information without detection.

Tension between those in the Hawking Star System and the American Union would come to a head in 2320 when the American Union’s continued disregard of its allies, deceit, and corruption led to a landslide victory in elections for the Magnetic Assembly in New Cambridge. In the lead up to the new year, it would be self-identified members of the DFE responsible for concealing Magnetic Assembly communications from the American Union's surveillance systems, contributing to the AU being so massively surprised by the events of 2320.

See: New Years Revolution

Shortly after the New Years Revolution, a drone attack dropping thermite from above would destroy the American Union's covert data-gathering data-warehousing servers in New Cambridge after they had been captured by the Magnetic Assembly. Though unable to prove DFE was involved, they are generally suspected of carrying out the attack. This is only the latest in strikes that have started to drive a wedge between DFE members and the rest of the Magnetic Assembly.

Members of the DFE are very privacy and security conscious ranging from more tempered measures to keep from being tracked to much more extreme efforts to strike against data-repositories to destroy the data-warehouses that hold people's information. Generally these individuals all share a desire for older times where someone could reasonably keep their personal data from others.

Nearly all members of DFE are highly technical individuals, often being leading experts in their fields. Contributions of code and technical information are highly sought after. This highly technical environment often results in the DFE having a large repository of exploits, hacks, and tools.

DFE members also tend to champion a particular anti-pattern-recognition fashion. This includes incorporating blocky anti-pattern shapes to break up faces or other identifying features, QR code based exploits in their clothing, and IR dazzlers built into their outfits to prevent electro-optical sensors from picking them up. While more extreme measures like retro-reflective strips, anti-radar materials, and gait-disruption-footware are often only seen worn by more extreme individuals it is common to see some of these style choices make their way into common usage among those in New Cambridge.