James Dolan, Co-Creator of SecureDrop, Dead At 36 (gizmodo.com)

The Freedom of the Press Foundation is reporting that James Dolan, former Marine and co-creator of the whistleblower submission system SecureDrop alongside Aaron Swartz and Wired editor Kevin Poulsen, has died at age 36. He reportedly took his own life. Gizmodo reports: First deployed as StrongBox with The New Yorker, organizations such as the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Associated Press, and Gizmodo Media Group have all come to rely on SecureDrop -- which allows highly secure communication between journalists and sources in possession of sensitive information or documents. As an industry tool, it has become invaluable for reporters. Dolan joined the Freedom of the Press Foundation to maintain SecureDrop after co-creator Aaron Swartz took his life in 2013 at age 26, as pressure mounted in a federal investigation against him that many felt was overzealous. Memorial services have not yet been announced, and presently the circumstances of Dolan's death are not known.

Comments

Please, stop worshiping Swartz

[damn_registrars]

I really thought we were done mourning and worshiping that kid. More likely than not we will find that their two deaths are not connected.

More so, Swartz is not worthy of being idolized and worshiped the way he is here and so many other places. His ideals were good but his methods were fucking stupid. He intentionally made a really stupid decision - when he literally had a safer option sitting on his own desk - for what reason? Charges were being brought against him because he physically broke in to a wiring closet that he had no business going in to. Had he instead been reasonably intelligent in his methods there would be almost no chance of charges ever having been brought against him; people share copyrighted articles online all the time.

As for Swartz's death? He took his own life. He wasn't pushed out a window or given poison by the government. He couldn't handle the stress that he brought upon himself, and there is reason to believe he had an underlying undiagnosed mental health issue as well. It's a shame that he took the coward's way but that was his own choice. Again, he deserves exactly zero praise for this.