Can someone explain to me how Cory Doctorow became a spokesperson for privacy and technology policy?
He worked full time at the EFF 2002-2006 and was named an EFF Fellow when he left. That combined with his blogging and fiction writing left him a reasonably high profile privacy and technology spokesperson.
Ok, what experience? That's what I'm asking. A deep interest is not experience.
> What kind of credentials he needs to have for his opinion on those issues to be "valid"?
Usually actual experience in the matter. The EFF does good work because it is an organization of lawyers, not Science Fiction writers.
But since you insist - he has a honorary doctorate in computer science from one of the top UK universities[0]. He also co-founded a software company[1]. I think it's enough credentials to give him right to be a tech advocate, with the fact that he's also a journalist backing up the "advocate" part.