Tor Project cut a third of its staff due to the Coronavirus

The Tor Project cut a third of its staff due to the economic impact of the ongoing Coronavirus outbreak, 13 staffers out of 35 left the team.

The ongoing Coronavirus outbreak has a significant impact on the Tor Project that was forced to cut a third of its staff due to the economic impact of the pandemic. The only proceeds to the organization are user donations.

According to a statement from the Tor Project, the organization cut 13 staffers out of 35 people.

“Tor, like much of the world, has been caught up in the COVID-19 crisis. Like many other nonprofits and small businesses, the crisis has hit us hard, and we have had to make some difficult decisions.” reads the announcement published by the Tor Project.

“We had to let go of 13 great people who helped make Tor available to millions of people around the world. We will move forward with a core team of 22 people, and remain dedicated to continuing our work on Tor Browser and the Tor software ecosystem.”

The message is poignant, the crisis hit many nonprofits and small businesses, and in a moment in which we need to defend our privacy more than before, this news is devastating.

Every day, Tor is used by millions of individuals worldwide to protect their privacy and defend their freedom of expression.

“The world won’t be the same after this crisis, and the need for privacy and secure access to information will become more urgent. In these times, being online is critical and many people face ongoing obstacles to getting and sharing needed information.” concludes the announcement. “We are taking today’s difficult steps to ensure the Tor Project continues to exist and our technology stays available.”

The organization will go on with its activities to provide privacy, security, and censorship circumvention services to its users.

In 2019, the Tor Project only received $833,956 in donations from individuals.

Unfortunately, most of the donations this year will be aimed at the Coronavirus crisis and the Tor Project will have serious problems in raising funds.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – Tor, Coronavirus)

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