About

The Collective

We are a small group, but our reach expands far beyond just our members. Our founders had informally worked together for many years and developed deep connections in the field of data gathering, research, journalism, activism and technology. In 2018, The Architect, Emma Best and others decided to pool together our expertise and time to create a unified project representing our shared goals, and provide a platform for others to know and trust. Since then, we’ve grown by leaps and bounds.

The state of “leaking” organizations has deteriorated, poisoned by their various egos and interests. Our view is that data is a resource and a record - this data can never tell the whole story. We trust the public to be responsible with data, and open it to them for the rigorous examination of it. Given enough time and data, the truth can always emerge.

The Team

Emma Best (they/them) - @NatSecGeek

Emma is an independent journalist and transparency activist who has filed thousands of FOIA requests with government agencies. Known for their tenacity and keen eye for the details in documents, they are a ruthless advocate for the truth at any cost. They co-founded the collective and coordinate its operations. They are married to Xan North and they raise a kid and two cats together.

L.B. Horne (they/them)

L.B. Horne is a non-binary writer and journalist from Canada, Ecuador and the United Kingdom. Their writing has appeared in Newsweek, the Guardian and CBC. A former member of DDoSecrets’ Board of Advisors, they stepped down to take on the role of Editor-in-chief for the collective.

“The Architect” (dev/null)

A pseudonym for a technical advisor with years of experience in privacy and technology activism. The Architect co-founded advised on the operational security for the collective and provided the initial hardware and software setup for the web and technical operations.

Paul Galante (he/him) - @galanp02

Paul is a dedicated FOIA requester and member of the transparency community, always willing to lend a hand to those seeking information. He currently acts as a “data wrangler” for the collective, expanding an already diverse collection of records.

Milo Trujillo (he/him) – @illegaldaydream

Milo is an engineer, hacker and activist with a background in security, privacy and distributed systems. He currently acts as a sysadmin for the collective, maintaining and expanding servers and using the OCCRP’s Aleph software to make the Hunter Memorial Library searchable.

Beka Valentine (she/her)

Beka is an anarchist trans dyke, programmer, extremely online tweeter, and co-founder of Queerious Labs. She likes playing with functional programming languages, GOFAI systems, and novel social software technology.

Xan “Grace” North (they/them) - @brazenqueer

Xan is a queer, antifascist anarchist that has acted as head of the Jeremy Hammond Support Committee since 2013. They have worked extensively in antifascist, anti-racist, and pro-choice activism, as well as exploring the intersections of how technology can be used to support anarchist, antifascist, sex workers’ rights, and prisoner support movements. They are a ethical vegan, protest medic, punk, penguin lover, and enthusiastic petter of all the dogs. They are married to Emma Best and they raise a kid and two cats together.

The Board of Advisors

Annalise Burkhart (she/her)

Annalise is a transparency activist focused on accountability, privacy, social justice, and surveillance. In addition to her long history as an activist, Annalise draws on experience gained as Director of Operations for the Pursuance Project.

@B_meson (he/him)

@B_meson is a hacker and transparency activist with extensive experience in public records gained through FOIA and other sunshine laws. He draws on his experience as a Mozilla/FPF fellow as well as co-founding Lucy Parsons Labs.

Birgitta Jónsdóttir (she/her)

Birgitta is a poetician and a co-founder and former parliamentarian for the Civic Movement & Pirate Party in the Icelandic Parliament & chairman for IMMI (International Modern Media Institute). Birgitta draws on her experience as an early member of WikiLeaks and co-producer of the Collateral Murder video released by Chelsea Manning, in addition to her roles on the board of the Pursuance Project and the technical advisory board for the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Camille Fassett (she/her)

Camille draws on her experience as a reporter and researcher tracking police misconduct and violations of the freedom of the press with groups such as the Freedom of the Press Foundation and Lucy Parsons Labs.

Erin Gallagher (she/her)

Erin Gallagher is a multimedia artist and reporter focused on social media networks, bots and manipulation and their roles in information warfare.

Jennifer Helsby (she/her)

Jennifer is a developer focused on technologies to enhance privacy and enable the secure transfer of sensitive information to journalists. Jennifer draws on her experience as the lead developer of SecureDrop for the Freedom of the Press Foundation and co-founder of Lucy Parsons Labs.

Micah Lee (he/him)

Micah is an open source developer and computer security engineer focused on operational security, source protection, privacy and encryption. He draws on his experience with The Intercept, Electronic Frontier Foundation, and Tor Project, as well as developing OnionShare and SecureDrop, and founding and acting as a board member of Freedom of the Press Foundation.