Tor (The onion router) is a famous non-profit project designed to increase and preserve online data security, however like many other companies, it had to deal with the sudden crisis dictated by the Coronavirus. More and more users are using it now Tor Browser on their desktop and mobile PCs, however, it appears the project is in danger of serious downsizing.
Isabela Bagueros, executive director of the Tor project he has declared:
“Tor, like much of the world, has been involved in the COVID-19 crisis. Like many other nonprofits and small businesses, the crisis hit us hard and we had to make some tough decisions. We had to let go of 13 amazing people who helped make Tor available to millions of people around the world. We will move forward with a core team of 22 and will remain committed to continuing our work on the Tor Browser and the Tor software ecosystem. The world will never 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 constant obstacles in obtaining and sharing the information they need. We are taking today's difficult steps to ensure that the Tor Project continues to exist and our technology remains available. We are terribly sad to lose such valuable teammates and we want to let all our users and supporters know that Tor will continue to provide privacy, security and censorship avoidance services to anyone who needs them. "
This umpteenth bad news testifies how often, the first realities reaped by crisis like the one we are experiencing, are precisely those that are based on donations, because during a time of economic crisis one of the last things you think about is a donation to an open source project.
