Biography
Jacob Appelbaum (also known as “ioerror”) is an American computer security researcher, hacker, privacy activist, and journalist who gained public attention through his work with the Tor Project and his association with wikileaks-related journalism. Appelbaum was a member of the hacker collective Cult of the Dead Cow and co-founded the Noisebridge hackerspace in San Francisco. He worked on privacy and digital rights issues, represented WikiLeaks in talks, and collaborated on reporting based on documents from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, helping expose U.S. surveillance practices.
Appelbaum has been subjected to government scrutiny and surveillance, including the U.S. Department of Justice obtaining a court order to access his Twitter data and occasional detentions at international borders where his electronics were searched. In 2016 he faced multiple allegations of sexual misconduct, which he denied — no criminal charges were filed, and his supporters raised concerns about due process and online trial-by-social-media. He now resides in Germany and continues his work on privacy, encryption, and digital security.
