--- title: Bill Gates Gives Reddit User an Amazing Secret Santa Gift description: Only one lucky participant was chosen to receive a present from Bill Gates. canonical: https://time.com/4153766/bill-gates-reddit-secret-santa/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-12-17T20:37:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:50.208Z og:title: Bill Gates Gave One Reddit User an Amazingly Thoughtful Secret Santa Gift og:description: He wins the Internet og:url: https://time.com/4153766/bill-gates-reddit-secret-santa/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Bill Gates Gave One Reddit User an Amazingly Thoughtful Secret Santa Gift twitter:description: He wins the Internet twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Bill Gates Gave One Reddit User an Amazingly Thoughtful Secret Santa Gift > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=3952b450-f3c5-49ec-bd93-0a754b439f58&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: TIME Explains: The Deep Web [Watch (HLS stream): TIME Explains: The Deep Web](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/DQbujPQY.m3u8) (2:19)  _Published 2013-10-31. The FBI takedown of the online market Silk Road reveals the challenges of regulating the Deep Web. Here's what you need to know._  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Dec 17, 2015 8:37 PM UTC  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Dec 17, 2015 8:37 PM UTC > [](https://twitter.com/reddit/status/677287312288571392) Over [120,000 users](https://www.redditgifts.com/exchanges/secret-santa-2015/) from more than 150 countries signed up for Reddit’s seventh annual Secret Santa gift exchange, but only one lucky participant was chosen to receive a present from [Bill Gates](http://time.com/4150170/bill-gates-best-books-2015/). This was Gate’s third year participating in the site’s holiday tradition, and [the Microsoft founder](http://time.com/4140710/donald-trump-wants-bill-gates-to-help-with-closing-that-internet-up/) did not disappoint. [Gates is known for](http://time.com/4122662/success-morning-routines/) tailoring his choices based on information he gathers from his partner’s profile and this year was no different. Redditor NayaTheNinja, who is an avid hiker, not only received a set of new outdoor adventure equipment — including a tent, mosquito net, camping chair and personalized playlist — but also a donation in her name to the charity Malaria No More. [In a post about how amazing her Secret Santa gift](https://www.redditgifts.com/gallery/gift/win-no-seriously-win-secret-santa-why/) was, Naya said that the donation was particularly meaningful to her because of her special connection to the cause. She explained that she became passionate about curing Malaria after visiting a friend in the Peace Corps in Zambia last year. “I bring all this up because my Santa gave me the amazing gift of a donation in my name to an organization called Malaria No More which is dedicated to wiping out malaria,” she wrote. “They provide prevention, treatment, and research towards more permanent solutions (namely vaccines). It is very cool. I also received some very cool stuff (like seriously rad stuff) but it is, in the end, stuff and the donation will help create a lasting effect on people other than myself.” In his package, Gates also included a picture of himself holding a sign that explained his selection. “You and I have something in common: We both hate mosquitos!” he wrote. “One of my Secret Santa presents to you is a donation in your name to Malaria No More, because no child should ever die of a mosquito bite.” ## Transcript [00:00] On October 1st in San Francisco, the FBI caught a guy [00:04] named Ross Ulbricht who they suspect of selling drugs [00:08] online through a website called Silk Road which is part [00:11] of the Deep Web. And here is what you need to know [00:14] about the Deep Web. The [00:22] Deep Web is loosely speaking every part of the [00:25] internet that is not indexed by search engines. Silk [00:28] Road was on a part of the Deep Web of the Tor [00:31] network. And what's interesting about the Tor network [00:34] is it's a part of the internet where nobody knows who [00:36] you are. It has complete privacy, complete anonymity. [00:41] Anything you do there or say there cannot be [00:43] associated with your identity or your life. The [00:46] government actually created the Tor network-- it was [00:50] the Navy in particular-- and they did this because [00:52] intelligence agents find it very useful. Law enforcement [00:56] uses it for dissidents, journalists. But unfortunately, [01:00] increasingly, criminals use it too. A lot of criminals, who [01:03] used to have to find dark alleys where they could do [01:07] their business, now simply do it on the Deep Web. [01:11] They sell drugs, fake IDs, hacking software, and [01:14] increasingly, weapons and child pornography. The [01:18] Deep Web poses a major problem for the government. [01:21] The government built it, but it doesn't know how to [01:23] control it. The laws that govern search warrants [01:27] relating to technology and networks are very old. And [01:31] as is generally the case, technology evolves a lot faster [01:34] than the law does. Ironically, the need for Tor [01:38] is even more urgent now than it was when Tor was first [01:42] created. More and more, there are companies like [01:44] Google and Facebook which make billions of dollars by [01:48] collecting personal information. And we, as those [01:51] users, are being asked to manage our personal [01:53] information in ways that we never had to before. And [01:57] Tor is the perfect tool for that. It provides all the [02:01] privacy and the anonymity we could ever desire. [02:04] Unfortunately, it has this terrible potential for abuse as [02:08] well. Bottom- line, there really is no such thing as a [02:10] bad technology. 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