Remembering John Young, Co-Founder of the Pioneering Web Archive Cryptome

John Young, a figure whose quiet persistence profoundly shaped the landscape of online transparency and archiving, passed away on March 28 at the age of 89. As the co-founder of Cryptome, a web archive that predated and inspired many of today's more famous leak sites, Young dedicated decades to the principle that the public has an inherent right to access information, particularly that which governments and corporations prefer to keep hidden. His death marks the end of an era for one of the internet's original bastions of unfiltered data.

Before the rise of household names like WikiLeaks, OpenLeaks, or even the widespread concept of digital whistleblowing platforms, there was Cryptome. Launched in 1996 by Young and his partner, Deborah Natsios, Cryptome emerged from a unique blend of architectural discipline, a deep-seated skepticism of authority, and a fascination with the burgeoning digital world. It quickly established itself as a crucial, albeit often overlooked, repository for documents related to cryptography, national security, intelligence agencies, and various forms of government and corporate secrecy.

Roots of Defiance: From Texas to Columbia

John Young's path to becoming a champion of public information was forged through a life shaped by diverse experiences and a growing awareness of systemic power structures. According to Deborah Natsios, Young's partner and fellow architect, his upbringing involved a "nomadic, hardscrabble Texas childhood." This early life, perhaps marked by instability or exposure to different facets of American society, may have instilled in him a certain resilience and an outsider's perspective.

A pivotal moment in Young's intellectual and political development occurred during the 1968 student protests at Columbia University in New York. These protests, fueled by opposition to the Vietnam War and the university's controversial plan to build a segregated gymnasium (dubbed "Gym Crow" by students), saw widespread student occupation of campus buildings. Young was among the protesters who occupied Avery Hall, the architecture building. The violent police response, which resulted in hundreds of arrests and injuries, left an indelible mark on him, solidifying a distrust of institutional authority and a commitment to challenging the status quo.

Natsios shared that her own background, marked by a childhood spent in various countries as her father, a CIA operative, moved through assignments, contributed to their shared perspective. "John and I both found our shared defiance of government secrecy had sprung from intensely lived experience," she recounted. This confluence of personal histories – one shaped by domestic protest against perceived injustice, the other by proximity to the world of international intelligence – provided a powerful foundation for their later work with Cryptome.

The Birth of Cryptome: Information as Architecture

By the early 1990s, Young was already deeply engaged with technology through his architectural practice, particularly with computer-aided design. As the internet began its transformation from a niche academic and military network into a public phenomenon, Young became increasingly interested in cryptology – the science of secure communication.

This interest coincided with a significant moment in the history of cryptography and government control: the "Crypto Wars." At the time, the U.S. government classified strong encryption software as a munition, subject to strict export controls. The rationale was that such tools could be used by adversaries to encrypt communications, making them impenetrable to intelligence agencies. This policy was challenged in 1991 when Phil Zimmermann developed Pretty Good Privacy (PGP), a powerful encryption program, and uploaded it to the internet. The subsequent federal investigation into Zimmermann under the Arms Export Control Act, though eventually dropped, highlighted the government's desire to control access to encryption technology.

It was this climate of government attempts to restrict information and tools that inspired John Young to create Cryptome in 1996. His vision was simple yet radical for its time: to create an open archive where documents related to cryptography, surveillance, and government activities could be published without restriction. The goal was not necessarily to break news or provide investigative journalism, but to serve as a neutral repository, allowing the public to access primary source material and draw their own conclusions.

Jon Callas, a co-founder of PGP Corporation, noted that while Cryptome did feature significant material on cryptography, its scope was much broader. Young saw it as a place for "all data that he thought citizens needed to know, regardless of what the government thought." Callas characterized Young as a product of the mid-to-late 20th century's cultural battles over government secrecy, civil rights, and events like MKUltra, the CIA's activities, Watergate, and Vietnam. These historical touchstones informed Young's deep-seated belief in the necessity of public transparency.

An Architect's Archive: Structure and Function Over Form

Visiting Cryptome today is like stepping back in time to the early days of the web. Its design is starkly utilitarian, eschewing modern aesthetics for simple HTML, plain text, and minimal graphics. The site is slow by today's standards, and its appearance is often described as primitive. Yet, beneath the dated interface lies a vast and meticulously organized collection of over 70,000 documents.

This focus on structure and accessibility over visual appeal is a direct reflection of Young's background as an architect. Cindy Cohn, Executive Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), highlighted this connection. "It took an architect to bring those skills to bear to create an information repository that was as organized and available and seamless to use as crypto was," she told The Register. "It wasn't pretty, but you could always find what you were looking for. You know, it just worked and I think that's because John and Deborah were able to bring their offline skills to the online environment."

Cryptome's archive contains a diverse range of documents, from details of government institutions and lists of alleged espionage agents to information on nuclear arsenals and even more mundane materials. Young viewed the site primarily as an archivist, collecting and presenting source material. He did not see himself bound by the journalistic imperative to verify every fact before publication, believing that making the raw data available was the primary service.

Navigating Pressure: Takedowns and Tussles

Operating a site dedicated to publishing sensitive documents inevitably drew attention from powerful entities. Cryptome faced occasional scrutiny from the FBI and other law enforcement agencies, but these interactions never resulted in significant legal action against Young or the site itself.

However, corporate pressure proved more effective, at least temporarily. In 2010, Microsoft successfully pressured Cryptome's internet service provider to take the site offline. The offending document was Microsoft's Global Criminal Compliance Handbook, a guide for law enforcement on how to obtain customer data from the company. Young's decision to publish this internal document was consistent with his belief that the public should understand how corporations interact with government surveillance requests. The takedown was brief; mirrors of Cryptome quickly appeared, ensuring the document remained accessible. Facing negative publicity and a losing battle against the distributed nature of the internet, Microsoft eventually withdrew its complaint, and Cryptome was restored.

Matthew Green, an associate professor of computer science at Johns Hopkins University, praised Cryptome's role as a vital backup for controversial information. "Cryptome was a great resource for all sorts of materials. If it was controversial or under threat of censorship, Cryptome would keep a copy," Green stated. He recalled Cryptome archiving one of his own papers when it faced legal threats. "They were an inspiration to a lot of things that came after them, and in many ways were better. I wish they still made people like John."

Despite the site's significant impact and the sensitive nature of its content, Young and Natsios managed to maintain it with remarkably few resources. Young claimed it required only a few hours of upkeep daily and cost less than $2,000 annually to host. This efficiency was tied to a core principle: Cryptome was a public service, not a commercial venture. This non-commercial ethos would become a major point of divergence with a site that Cryptome helped inspire.

The WikiLeaks Divide: Ethics, Money, and Control

When WikiLeaks emerged in 2006, John Young was initially supportive, even co-signing its original domain registration. Cryptome had, in many ways, laid the groundwork and demonstrated the feasibility of publishing sensitive documents online. However, the relationship quickly soured.

Young developed serious doubts about WikiLeaks within weeks of its launch, primarily centered on what he perceived as Julian Assange's focus on fundraising and personal prominence. Natsios explained that Young believed in an "eleemosynary [charitable] idea of public service inimical to the ostentatious seven-figure fundraising plan that Wikileaks was soon vocally touting." This commercial aspect was deeply problematic for Young, who saw the archiving and dissemination of information as a public good that should not be commodified or used for personal gain.

The philosophical differences extended beyond money. Cryptome famously published the cache of embarrassing U.S. diplomatic cables that became central to Assange's legal troubles a day before WikiLeaks did. Crucially, Cryptome faced no repercussions from authorities for this publication, a fact that Assange's defense lawyers later used in court. Natsios noted that Assange would sometimes taunt authorities about this disparity, highlighting Cryptome's relative immunity compared to his own legal battles.

Young did not mince words in his criticism of Assange, calling him a "narcissistic individual." He also publicly questioned WikiLeaks' handling of funds raised ostensibly for the defense of Chelsea (formerly Bradley) Manning, the military analyst who leaked the documents, suggesting those funds might not have reached their intended target. This public critique underscored Young's commitment to transparency not just in government, but also within the leak community itself.

Snowden's Shadow: A Different Approach to Leaks

The 2013 leaks by Edward Snowden, revealing the vast scope of NSA surveillance programs, presented another moment of divergence for Young. While the content of Snowden's leaks aligned perfectly with Cryptome's mission of exposing government secrecy, Young was frustrated by the *method* of dissemination.

Instead of releasing the entire archive publicly, Snowden entrusted the trove to a small group of journalists and news outlets. While this approach allowed for careful analysis and contextualization, it also meant that the vast majority of the raw data remained unpublished. Furthermore, some physical copies of the files were later destroyed under pressure from the UK government, although digital backups existed elsewhere.

For Young, this controlled release was antithetical to the principle of open archiving. "John was profoundly against any restrictions against disseminating the full scope of the Snowden material, and saw any decision to do so as philosophically untenable," Natsios stated. His belief was that the public should have access to the complete dataset to conduct their own analysis and research, rather than relying solely on curated selections presented by intermediaries, no matter how well-intentioned.

A Quiet Force: Legacy of a Digital Archivist

Cindy Cohn's reflection on Young's personality captures his essence well: a quiet individual capable of immense impact without seeking the spotlight. "If you'd have told me that an architect from Texas, and his wife, with her history with the CIA, would be the architects for this kind of information archive I would never have believed you," she remarked. This unexpected background, she suggested, is precisely why they were able to create something so unique and enduring. The next great innovation in this space, she speculated, might also come from an equally surprising source.

John Young continued to maintain Cryptome actively well into his 80s, despite facing long-term health challenges. His dedication never wavered. He passed away in New York, the city that had been his home for decades and where his activism had taken root during the 1968 protests. He is survived by Deborah Natsios, his partner in life and in the monumental task of building and maintaining Cryptome.

Natsios's final words on Young paint a picture of unwavering commitment: "Optimism and pessimism are habits of mind the foot soldier in the trenches can ill afford. John continued in the trenches, fiercely, day by day, until his last." This image of a relentless fighter, dedicated to the daily grind of making information accessible, is perhaps the most fitting tribute to John Young. In an age where information is power and control over narratives is fiercely contested, the simple, unyielding archive he built stands as a testament to the enduring power of raw data and the right of the public to know.

Cryptome remains online, a living archive and a monument to Young's vision. Its plain interface and vast collection serve as a reminder of the internet's early promise as a tool for unfettered information exchange and the quiet, persistent individuals who fought to keep that promise alive.