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Software developer of TOR Browser dodges FBI, leaves US

Software developer of popular Anonymous software, Tor Browser, Isis Agora Lovecruft has left US after dodging FBI.

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Tech2 News Staff|May 19, 2016, 17:50:51 IST
Software developer of popular Anonymous software, Tor Browser,  Isis Agora Lovecruft has left US after dodging FBI. She has alleged harassment by the FBI since quite some time under the pretext of talking to them about an ongoing criminal hacking investigation.Lovecruft was contacted by the FBI when she was vacationing with her parents during Thanksgiving break. FBI agent Mark Burnett got in touch with her parents, asking her to call them. She immediately got in touch with attorney Ben Rosenfeld for help, Rosenfeld got in touch with the FBI in hopes of trying to know the reason Lovecruft was being called in.But Lovecruft somehow knew the reason and the response from FBI to Rosenfeld reaffirmed her doubts. They told Rosenfeld that if they run into Lovecruft on street, they will start with the questions without him regardless her willingness to talk in presence of her attorney and that they had agents in five states keeping an eye on her.This made it abundantly clear that it had nothing to do with the ongoing investigation but could have more to do with her being one of the principal software developers behind Tor. She was afraid that if she when in, the FBI might force her into disclosing the secret behind Tor, essentially weakening the global software network or cracking the network as a whole. To stop any possibility of this from happening, She left US without disclosing her plans to her family or friends and booking a round trip flight to Germany on no hopes of using the return ticket.
She tweeted about this once she left and recently published about the ordeal in detail on her blog. Lovecruft wants to maintain and ensure that Tor remains secure and unbreached as it is the only thing protecting a lot of innocent people like journalists, human rights activists and others. She is afraid about what would happen to her if she returns back to US right now. Attempts by FBI to subpoena her even after she has left the country have not helped the case.Recently Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has taken up her case and wants to help her return back without any harm or obstruction to her freedom and privacy.
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First Published:May 19, 2016, 17:50:51 IST
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