Before you do anything
If your information is sensitive — internal documents, identifying yourself as a source, or anything that could be retaliated against — take a minute to read the rest of this page first. The technical steps matter.
What is SecureDrop?
SecureDrop is a free, open-source whistleblower submission system used by major newsrooms (The Washington Post, ProPublica, the AP, the Guardian, and dozens more). It runs over the Tor network, hosted in another country with better privacy laws, on a host that has millions to battle regulators. It's designed so that even the operators can't link a submission to a person.
How to submit
- Use a device that isn't issued by your employer. Personal phones and personal laptops are safer than work-issued ones.
- Use a network you don't usually use. Ideally not your home Wi-Fi — coffee shops, libraries, and public networks raise the cost of identifying you.
- Install the Tor Browser. Get it from torproject.org.
- Open the SecureDrop link from the Tor Browser. Once you're on Nevada Whistleblowers, follow the on-screen instructions. You'll get a randomly-generated codename — write it down somewhere safe so you can check for replies later.
- Don't include identifying details unless you mean to. Strip metadata from documents before uploading where possible.
If SecureDrop is too much
If your information isn't life-or-death sensitive, the Signal messenger over a personal device works for most situations. Email and traditional web forms are not safe channels for source material.
What we won't do
- We won't tell anyone you contacted us.
- We won't publish your name without your explicit permission.
- We won't ask you to verify your identity.
- We won't pay sources.
What we will do
- Read everything carefully.
- Verify what we can against the public record before we publish.
- Hold back details that would unmask you, even if those details are part of the story.
- Tell you, on the SecureDrop reply system, when something is published.