Tor leader Jacob Appelbaum resigns after complaints of sexual intimidation

Jacob Appelbaum, one of the lead developers of The Tor Project, has resigned. This would be the result of multiple complaints of sexual harassment by Appelbaum in the workplace. The company has launched an official investigation.

Appelbaum’s departure was very succinctly announced last Thursday by director Shari Steele. The man resigned on May 25. It wasn’t until last Saturday that Steele provided a comprehensive explanation for his departure. Rumors about Appelbaum’s behavior have been circulating for some time and several complaints have recently been filed that could not be ignored. After extensive internal consultation, Appelbaum resigned.

The Tor Project has engaged a specialized law firm to investigate the case. Steele says he doesn’t know what the investigation will yield but promises that they will uncover the truth as soon as possible. The director says she is “deeply disturbed” by these stories. The results of the investigation are not made public ‘out of respect for the persons involved’.

The Tor Project is responsible for the Tor Browser, among other things. It anonymizes internet traffic by channeling it through multiple relays. In this way, users can visit certain websites and transact business without other parties finding out what a user is doing and where he or she is. However, the system does not appear to be watertight. Tor was used in the past by, for example, the administrators of the illegal online trading platform Silk Road, but also by Edward Snowden to leak certain data anonymously. Appelbaum, one of the leaders of The Tor Project, even served as one of the journalists who published the Snowden documents in 2013.