Jacob Appelbaum (born April 1, 1983) is an American independent journalist, computer security researcher, hacker, computer scientist, blogger, Internet activist, and LGBTQ rights activist. He earned his PhD from Eindhoven University of Technology. Early in his career, Appelbaum started and abandoned college before moving to Oakland, California, at age 20 (around 2003), where he began working as a technologist and activist with organizations including the Rainforest Action Network, Greenpeace, and the Ruckus Society. Appelbaum first became notable for his role as a core member of the Tor Project, contributing to the free software network designed for online anonymity. Under the pseudonym 'ioerror', he was an active member of the Cult of the Dead Cow hacker collective from 2008 to 2016. He co-founded the San Francisco hackerspace Noisebridge with Mitch Altman and worked for Kink.com. His prominence grew through associations with WikiLeaks, journalism at Der Spiegel based on Edward Snowden's NSA leaks, and standing in for Julian Assange at computer security and hacker conferences. Appelbaum served on the Technical Advisory Board of the Freedom of the Press Foundation. He has also been involved in photography, writing (including for Honest Government Ads, Traceroute), and other creative works.