If I recall correctly it was a rogue developer that decided to make a fully nude model and put Elliot's head on it. So it isn't a model of his body at the time, but still obviously a pretty big breach of trust.
Also this article was written in 2015 well before Elliot's transition so that why it uses the older pronouns. I'm definitely a big believer in using a person's proferred pronouns but I don't it is "unfortunate" that older things have their old pronouns in them.
What does he have to do with this story? His name isn't mentioned in the article.