Six Years of Dangerous Misconceptions Targeting Ola Bini and Digital Rights in Ecuador

Ola Bini was first detained in Quito’s airport six years ago, called a “Russian hacker,” and accused of “alleged participation in the crime of assault on the integrity of computer systems.” It wouldn't take long for Ecuadorean authorities to find out that he was Swedish and an internationally respected free software developer and computer expert. 

Lacking evidence, authorities rapidly changed the criminal offense underpinning the accusation against Bini and struggled to build a case based on a mere image that shows no wrongdoing. Yet, Bini remained arbitrarily detained for 70 days in 2019 and outrageously remains under criminal prosecution.

This week, the Observation Mission monitoring Ola Bini’s case is again calling out the prosecution’s inaccuracies and abuses that weaponize misunderstandings about computer security, undermining both Bini’s rights and digital security more broadly. The Observation Mission is comprised of digital and human rights organizations, including EFF. Specifically, we highlight how Ecuadorean law enforcement authorities have tried to associate the use of Tor, a crucial privacy protection tool, with inherently suspicious activity. 

Following a RightsCon 2025 session about the flaws and risks of such an interpretation, we are releasing this week a technical statement (see below) pointing out why Ecuadorean courts must reaffirm Bini’s innocence and repudiate misconceptions about technology and technical knowledge that only disguise the prosecutor’s lack of evidence supporting the accusations against Bini. 

Let’s not forget that Bini was unanimously acquitted in early 2023. Nonetheless, the Prosecutor’s Office appealed and the majority of the appeals court considered him guilty of attempted unauthorized access of a telecommunications system. The reasoning leading to this conclusion has many problems, including mixing the concepts of private and public IP addresses and disregarding key elements of the acquittal sentence.  

The ruling also refers to the use of Tor. Among other issues, the prosecution argued that Tor is not a tool known by any person except for technical experts since its purpose is to hide your identity on the internet while leaving no trace you're using it. As we stressed at RightsCon, this argument turns the use of a privacy-protective, security-enhancing technology into an indication of suspicious criminal activity, which is a dangerous extrapolation of the “nothing-to-hide argument.” 

The prosecutor’s logic, which the majority appeal ruling endorses, is if you’re keeping your online activities private it’s because you’re most likely doing something wrong, instead of we all have privacy rights, so we are entitled to use technologies that ensure privacy and security by default. 

Backing such an understanding in a court ruling sets an extremely worrying precedent for privacy and security online. The use of Tor must not be up for grabs when a prosecutor lacks actual evidence to sustain a criminal case.

Bini’s defense has appealed the unfounded conviction. We remain vigilant, hoping that the Ecua