About Esther
Expert in information security and reverse engineering, Esther aka U039b is a French hacktivist, lecturer and co-founder of Defensive Lab Agency, Exodus Privacy, PTS project, Pithus, Echap, La Résille. She fights against surveillance capitalism and has contributed to several investigations highlighting the illegal data collection by major digital actors. She helps journalists, academics and NGOs to better understand the issues of cybersecurity and surveillance on mobile devices.
Being social
- Twitter: @U039b
- Twitch: @U039b
- GitHub: @U039b
- Mastodon: @U039b@mastodon.social
- Mail:
hello(at)0x39b.fr
Positions
- PEReN - Reverse engineering expert (2024-present)
Centre of expertise for digital platform regulation - Nos Oignons - Ethics board (2023-present)
French non-profit operating multiple tor exit nodes - PTS project - Founder and main maintainer (2022-present)
FOSS mobile device forensics and digital investigation platform - VHS - Main maintainer (2021-present)
FOSS media downloading and digital investigation platform developed by Human Rights Watch - La Résille - Co-founder and facilitator (2021-present)
French non-profit of hackers producing techno-feminist science-fiction - Echap - Co-founder and board member (2020-present)
French non-profit fighting against the use of technology in gender-based violence - Pithus - Founder and technical lead (2020-present)
FOSS mobile threat intelligence platform - Defensive Lab Agency - Founder and CEO (2019-present)
French company providing expert services on information security - Exodus Privacy - Co-founder and technical lead (2017-present)
French non-profit fighting against tracking SDKs in mobile apps - Shira - Advisory board (2022-2024)
online learning platform focusing on identifying and defeating phishing attempts
Publications & Research
- ”Year 2022 in Review” - Esther Onfroy, PiRogue Tool Suite, Dec. 31 2022 - article
- ”How Dare They Peep into My Private Life?” - Hye Jung Han, Human Rights Watch, May 25 2022 - article
- ”Project launch” - Esther Onfroy, PiRogue Tool Suite, Jan. 26 2022 - project
- ”FinSpy spyware analysis” - Esther Onfroy, Defensive Lab Agency, Sep. 25 2020 - article
- “German-made FinSpy spyware found in Egypt, and Mac and Linux versions revealed” - Amnesty International, Sep. 25 2020 - article
- ”FinSpy spyware analysis” - Esther Onfroy, Defensive Lab Agency, Sep. 25 2020 - article
- “You Give Apps Sensitive Personal Information. Then They Tell Facebook.” - Sam Schechner, Mark Secada, Wall Street Journal, Feb. 22 2019 - article
- “Study on the impact of the GDPR” - Esther Onfroy, Exodus Privacy, Nov. 24 2018 - article
- “εxodus static analysis” - Esther Onfroy, Exodus Privacy, Aug. 17 2018 - article
- “Project launch - later rebooted as PTS” - Esther Onfroy, PiRanhaLysis, Mar. 10 2018 - project
- “Meeting with the CNIL” - Esther Onfroy, Exodus Privacy, Feb. 28 2018 - article
- “Project launch” - Esther Onfroy, Exodus Privacy, Nov. 17 2017 - project
Talks
- Workshop on data access for research - PEReN and Arcom on Oct. 12 2023 - Paris - Details
- Digital Defenders Partnership on Sep. 22/Oct. 6 2023 - Online courses - Details
- Yale Privacy Lab on May 11 2023 - Online - Details
- Jdll on Apr. 1-2 2023 - Lyon (France) - Details
- Bercy - PEReN on Sep. 19 2022 - Paris (France)
- Centre Hubertine-Auclert on Jun. 28 2022 - Online - Details
- Tech.Rocks Summit on Dec. 9 - 10 2021 - Nantes (France) - Details
- Les Utopiales 2021 on Oct. 22 - Nov. 1 2021 - Nantes (France) - Details
- PassTheSalt on Jul. 5 - Jul. 7 2021 - Online - Details
- APVP on Jun. 15 - Jun. 17 2021 - Online - Details
- MiXiT on May 18 - May 20 2021 - Online - Details
- FDLN - Forum ouvert on Feb. 1 - Feb 2 2020 - Rennes (France) - Details
- Les Utopiales 2019 on Oct. 31 - Nov 4 2019 - Nantes (France) - Details
- 13è Université des DPO - AFCDP on Jan. 16 2019 - Paris (France) - Details
- Internet et ses travers on Oct. 12 2018 - Médiathèque de Rezé (France)
- GDG Nantes Android on Oct. 9 2018 - Nantes (France) - Details
- Paris Web 2018 on Oct. 6 2018 - Paris (France) - Details
- Journée du conseil scientifique de l’Afnic on Jul. 9 2018 - Paris (France)
- PSES 2018 on Jun. 29-30 2018 - Paris (France)
- Web2Day 2018 on Jun. 15 2018 - Nantes (France)
- LINC - CNIL on Feb. 14 2018 - Paris (France)
- Internet et ses travers on Nov. 7 2017 - Dojo Nantes (France)
Press
- Heidi News on Nov. 14 2023 - Qui sont ces data brokers qui s’arrachent nos données comme si c’était de l’or?
- Le Monde on Jun. 7 2023 - Contre les violences conjugales, les gendarmes des Yvelines testent un outil pour détecter les logiciels espion
- Ouest France on Oct. 17 2022 - Le téléphone portable, cet espion qui vend nos données personnelles
- Human Rights Watch on May 25 2022 - “How Dare They Peep into My Private Life?”
- The Markup on Feb. 24 2022 - Who Is Policing the Location Data Industry?
- Elle on Jul. 21 2021 - Comment protéger ses données en ligne
- ExpressVPN on Jul. 7 2021 - Apps for opioid addiction treatment and recovery. Data sharing and privacy risks
- Cash Investigation on May 14 2021 - TV, France 2 Nos données personnelles valent de l’or !
- Envoyé Spécial on Apr. 29 2021 - TV, France 2
- France Culture on Mar. 29 2021 - À l’ère de la surveillance numérique
- Coin Desk on Mar. 10 2021 - We Went Hunting for Crypto Scams in App Stores. Here’s What We Found.
- Vox Recode on Feb. 23 2021 - App trackers secretly sell your location data to the government. App stores won’t stop them.
- Next Inpact on Feb. 15 2021 - Pithus : un projet pour analyser les dangers des applications Android
- ZDNet on Feb. 12 2021 - These dating apps are tracking your location
- Vice on Jan. 28 2021 - More Muslim Apps Worked with X-Mode, Which Sold Data to Military Contractors
- TechCrunch on Jan. 28 2021 - Location broker X-Mode continues to track users despite app store bans
- Amnesty International on Sep. 25 2020 - German-made FinSpy spyware found in Egypt, and Mac and Linux versions revealed
- korii on Aug. 5 2020 - Méfiez-vous de vos applications, elles sont peut-être contrefaites
- Rewire News Group on Jul. 24 2019 - Anti-Choice Apps Are Violating Google and Apple Privacy Standards
- Wall Street Journal on Feb. 22 2019 - You Give Apps Sensitive Personal Information. Then They Tell Facebook.
- Next Inpact on Nov. 24 2018 - L’effet du RGPD sur les trackers des applications Android, selon Exodus Privacy
- Les dossiers du canard n⁰149 on Oct. 2018 - La vie privée c’est terminé !
- Misc n⁰98 on Jul. 2018 - PiRanhaLysis : rendre l’analyse IoT facile et reproductible
- Le Monde des Ados on May 30 2018 - Protèges ta vie privée !
- BFM TV on Apr. 20 2018 - Sans votre accord, des applications offrent vos données les plus intimes à Facebook
- Next Inpact on Mar. 29 2018 - La mutation rapide d’Exodus Privacy, en lutte contre les trackers sous Android
- Next Inpact on Mar. 27 2018 - Avec PiRogue, capturer le trafic HTTP(S) d’un smartphone devient plus simple
- Mind Media on Feb. 23 2018 - Mobile : qui installe les SDK publicitaires et pourquoi ?
- Mind Media on Feb. 9 2018 - Quels SDK publicitaires figurent dans les applications mobiles des éditeurs médias ?
- Next Inpact on Nov. 25 2017 - Rencontre avec Exodus Privacy, qui révèle les trackers des applications Android
- Numerama on Dec. 08 2017 - Lutter contre les mouchards des apps, une cause citoyenne : voici l’histoire d’Exodus Privacy",