Tor’s Developer Leaves After Lurid Sexual Allegations

Tor is free software that channels internet traffic through a series of relays to anonymize its users. 

The Tor Project confirmed recently that one of its prominent developers, Jacob Appelbaum, stepped down in response to what it called “public allegations of sexual mistreatment.” 

In addition to his security research at the Tor Project, Appelbaum is a journalist who worked on WikiLeaks and the Edward Snowden disclosures. 

The Tor Project, which develops the Tor browser and network, had previously only acknowledged Appelbaum’s departure in a one-sentence statement, but went into further detail about his resignation after rumors of assault emerged online.

Rolling Stone called him the “public face of the Tor Project” in a 2010 profile that detailed his involvement with Tor and WikiLeaks. Before joining Tor, Appelbaum worked on security for Greenpeace and the Rainforest Action Network.

Tor Project executive director Sherri Steele said in a statement that allegations of sexual assault had followed Appelbaum for quite some time. “These types of allegations were not entirely new to everybody at Tor; they were consistent with rumors some of us had been hearing for some time. That said, the most recent allegations are much more serious and concrete than anything we had heard previously.”

Steele added that The Tor Project had heard allegations from several victims about Appelbaum’s behavior towards them. The Tor Project has hired a legal firm to investigate the statements, but Steele said she did not expect that the results of the investigation would be made public.

Steele initially announced Appelbaum’s resignation in a simple statement: “Long time digital advocate, security researcher, and developer Jacob Appelbaum stepped down from his position at The Tor Project on May 25, 2016,” she wrote.

Despite the terse announcement, the backstory of Appelbaum’s resignation quickly emerged online.

Andrea Shepard, a Tor developer, tweeted the decoded version of a message she’d originally posted on May 24, one day before Appelbaum stepped down. “It seems one rapist is one rapist too many,” she wrote. (SHA-256 references the hash used to encode the original message.)

Alison Macrina, the founder of The Library Freedom Project, also referenced the allegations on Twitter, saying she had spoken to several victims. The Library Freedom Project is an organization that educates librarians about privacy and collaborates with the Tor Project to establish Tor exit nodes in libraries. “no more open secrets, no more missing stairs. you’re not alone. you were never alone. and I’m pretty sure things are just getting started,” Macrina tweeted.

Steele said the Tor Project would work to foster a safer environment. “Going forward, we want the Tor community to be a place where all participants can feel safe and supported in their work. We are committed to doing better in the future. To that end, we will be working earnestly going forward to develop policies designed to set up best practices and to strengthen the health of the Tor community.”

TechCrunch: http://tcrn.ch/1S5d0vw