Whonix is a free and open-source desktop operating system that runs as two virtual machines -- a Whonix-Gateway that runs Tor and a Whonix-Workstation that runs user applications on an isolated network -- so that all traffic is forced through Tor and the workstation never learns the real IP address; it is built on Kicksecure, a hardened Debian derivative from the same developer, which is folded into this dossier rather than scored separately. The project is copyrighted and run by ENCRYPTED SUPPORT LLC, a series LLC registered in the Marshall Islands, with Patrick Schleizer as founder and lead developer, and is licensed as a compilation under AGPL-3+ with additional terms; funding comes from donations and disclosed sponsors (FUTO and Power Up Privacy since 2024, an OTF grant in 2015). Whonix's About page states it does not silently upload identifying information in the background, and its website privacy and cookie policies describe short-retention server logs with IP logging disabled where possible, no analytics cookies, and no third-party cookies without consent -- although that policy is a boilerplate GDPR document that also reserves service-provider sharing and a business-transfer clause. Whonix documents its own limitations at length: it depends on the security of the host OS and hypervisor, its verifiable-builds feature is deprecated, and its lead developer alone builds and signs releases. No breach or regulatory action was found, and no named-firm security audit of Whonix itself exists; the project's own reviews page lists only adjacent evidence such as a third-party audit of the SecureDrop Workstation, which is based on Qubes-Whonix.
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[2026-08-30] · NEW RECEIPTS
14 new sources on file for Whonix.
Whonix's file gained 14 new sourced claims since its last review.
Whonix's About page describes it as a free and open-source OS built on Kicksecure, Debian and Tor, in which all Internet traffic is routed through Tor, and states -- for users who do not want their private lives uploaded and analyzed -- that Whonix does not silently upload identifying information in the background; no account is required to download or use it.
The whonix.org privacy policy (effective March 17, 2019) covers only the website, wiki, forums and issue tracker, not the operating system; it describes standard hosting log files kept in identifiable form for just a few weeks and states the operator disables IP logging whenever possible, replacing visitor IPs with 127.0.0.1 before they reach web applications, while reserving the right to re-enable IP logging during attacks or where required by law.
Whonix's copyrights page states the software is a compilation of individually licensed packages released under a compilation license identified as AGPL-3+-with-additional-terms-1, copyright 2012-2026 ENCRYPTED SUPPORT LLC, and discloses that because the LLC has funded and run the project since the beginning and wants the right to redistribute code under proprietary licenses, every code contributor is asked to transfer copyright to the LLC.
Whonix's Transparency page discloses its present monetary sponsors -- FUTO (Whonix only, 2024-08-26) and Power Up Privacy (2024-08-15) -- stating each has no influence on features, hiring or code, and lists past support including an EyeOnPASS advertisement in 2018 and an Open Technology Fund grant in 2015; the Donate page notes charitable donations are not tax-deductible for any party.
Whonix's contributors page names Patrick Schleizer as Whonix founder and lead developer and lists other current contributors by name or handle with their roles (KVM support, kernel hardening, AppArmor, CI, wiki editing under contract), describing the project as developed by an independent team of contributors.
Whonix's imprint names the operator as ENCRYPTED SUPPORT LLC, a series of OTOCO RMI LLC (registration number 966308, formed December 4, 2023), at a trust-company address on Ajeltake Island, Majuro, Marshall Islands, with adrelanos(at)whonix.org as the contact; the imprint states it also covers forums.whonix.org and the project's GitHub and GitLab accounts. The same entity is named as GDPR controller in the privacy policy.
Whonix's technical introduction documents that the Whonix-Gateway runs Tor and uses iptables to force all traffic through the Tor network, that the Workstation is isolated so applications cannot learn hardware serials or the external IP, and that the system fails closed: if Tor is disabled, loses connection, or the Gateway crashes, the Workstation has no network connectivity at all rather than falling back to the real IP.
The whonix.org privacy policy states the operator has never used tracking technologies for advertising and does not sell or rent collected information, but -- as a template GDPR policy -- it also permits sharing with contracted third-party service providers under data processing agreements, disclosure to authorities in response to legal process, and a business-transfer clause under which personally identifiable information may be transferred in a merger, acquisition or bankruptcy; it also notes Whonix downloads link to a SourceForge mirror with its own privacy statement.
Whonix's Warning page states that since the project was founded in 2012 no anonymity leaks or proxy-bypass problems have been discovered, while also cautioning that Whonix is a work in progress that users should not rely on for strong anonymity, that its security is reliant upon the security of the host OS and hypervisor, and that Tor cannot protect against a global passive adversary.
Whonix's Trust page publishes an OpenPGP/signify-signed warrant canary refreshed within four weeks (mirrored on GitHub), but also discloses that all release source tags are signed by lead developer Patrick Schleizer alone, that its maintainer table shows Patrick as sole source and binary-image maintainer for VirtualBox and KVM builds, that the verifiable-builds feature is deprecated pending a dedicated contributor, and that with a small team the many-eyeballs theory may work against the project.
Whonix's own Security Reviews and Feedback page lists no named-firm audit of Whonix; its entries are a Corelight blog profile, a cursory check of the predecessor TorBOX by the JanusVM author, an informal leak observation by the corridor author, and a third-party audit of the SecureDrop Workstation (based on Qubes-Whonix), which the page explicitly labels as not an audit of Whonix.
The whonix.org cookie policy states the site currently uses none of the performance/analysis (visitor-counting) cookies it describes, and that it will never use third-party cookies (such as like/share buttons) without the visitor's permission; the site's essential cookies are limited to session, login and preference functions.
Privacy Guides lists Whonix on its desktop operating systems page under Anonymity-Focused Distributions, describing the two-VM Workstation/Gateway design in which all Workstation traffic must pass through the Tor gateway so the real IP stays hidden even if the Workstation is compromised, and naming stream isolation, keystroke anonymization, encrypted swap and a hardened memory allocator among its features.
Whonix's About page lists built-in anti-tracking components beyond IP hiding via Tor: Tor Browser against browser fingerprinting, tirdad for TCP ISN randomization, stream isolation against cross-application correlation, kloak for keystroke and mouse anonymization, boot-clock randomization and sdwdate for time-based attacks, and a virtualizer abstraction layer against hardware-identifier leaks.