About Me
Self-taught operational security researcher developing operational privacy infrastructure to counter global surveillance expansion.
My journey into privacy research began with early computing systems - from Amstrad CPC 6128 through Amiga 500 and Atari 520 STF - building foundational understanding of how systems actually work beneath their abstractions. Over the past five years, I've focused intensively on operational security and privacy infrastructure, driven by the accelerating assault on digital freedoms through legislation like Chat Control, the Patriot Act, and similar privacy-invasive laws worldwide.
Research Context:
My work tries to respond directly to the growing threat of global internet control, restrictions on freedom of speech and coding, and the systematic erosion of financial and movement privacy. Rather than accepting these developments as inevitable, I try to develop practical tools that preserve the fundamental rights that nation-state governments increasingly seek to eliminate.
Democratizing Privacy Philosophy:
I fundamentally reject the notion that sophisticated privacy protection should be reserved for technical elites or well-funded organizations. Nation-state-level privacy tools must be accessible to everyone - from whistleblowers, journalists and activists but also ordinary citizens who simply want to maintain their basic rights. This means designing systems that work reliably for both the highest threat levels and everyday privacy needs, without requiring specialized knowledge, expensive hardware, or extensive technical training.
Methodological Approach:
Being entirely self-taught brings both challenges and advantages. Without access to advanced hardware or traditional academic resources, I'm forced to focus on solutions that work within real-world constraints and regular hardware- the same limitations most people face. This constraint-driven approach often reveals vulnerabilities that laboratory conditions might miss, and ensures that tools remain practical for those who need them most even if they are less tech savvy.
Technical Philosophy:
My development philosophy centers on eliminating technical gatekeeping in privacy tools. Systems must function reliably under hostile conditions while remaining genuinely accessible to non-experts. This means acknowledging hardware limitations, designing around forensic persistence, creating tools that resist both technical attacks and legal coercion, and building infrastructures that maintains security even when individual components are compromised - all without requiring users to become cryptography experts.
Community and Recognition:
While I maintain operational anonymity, I collaborate extensively with other researchers and have gained decent recognition within the operational security underground. This relative peer validation provides crucial feedback while maintaining the operational security necessary for this type of work.
Sustainability and Mission:
This work is sustained through consulting and donations - funding models that preserve independence while keeping tools free and available to those who need them most but may lack resources for commercial solutions. The goal is creating infrastructure that enables anyone to escape abusive surveillance and global spying, regardless of their technical background or financial situation.
The urgency of this work increases as encryption faces growing threats and privacy becomes criminalized. Each tool developed represents resistance to a future where private communication, anonymous publication, and financial autonomy become privileges of the technically sophisticated rather than fundamental rights for all.
All my projects remain free & open source to enable community verification, continued development, and to ensure that no single entity can control access to these essential privacy tools.