Do you have confidential information that is in the public interest or would you like to share information for us to investigate? You can use one of the means below to get in touch with us securely.
Please note: the security of a digital system can never be completely guaranteed, but the tools below have been carefully chosen and are among the best available. Take the time to read our advice for each before choosing the one that is right for you.
Signal
Signal is a secure, free and easy to use messaging app. Messages, documents, pictures and videos sent through Signal can only be decrypted by their recipient.
To install Signal on your phone, download the app from the Play Store (Android) or from iTunes (iOS).
To contact us on Signal:
- Launch Signal and follow the registration process.
- Start a new message and type this number:
+33 6 58 05 14 35
- we recommend you not to store it in your contact book to reduce the digital trail of our communications. - Type your message. You can add pictures, videos or documents. You can also configure your messages to disappear after a certain amount of time.
- Click on the “send” button. We will get in touch with you shortly.
Signal messages can be intercepted if malicious software if running on your phone. For additional security, consider the following:
- Regularly update your operating system and your applications. Protect your phone and the Signal app with a code or password.
- Activate encryption in the security settings of your phone. (On iOS, the option is called “Data Protection”)
- If you don’t trust your current phone, use another one specifically for Signal communications, or chose another way to contact us.
SecureDrop
SecureDrop is an anonymity tool for journalists and whistle-blowers maintained by the Freedom of the Press Foundation. It combines several well-known security tools to guarantee anonymity to sources, make their identification difficult and ensure the confidentiality of their communications with journalists. This method is the most secure way of contacting us.
Before using SecureDrop
It is essential that your SecureDrop activities cannot be linked to your real identity:
- Do not access SecureDrop from your employer’s or home network. Use a network not associated with you, like the wifi at a library or cafe. Avoid using your phone’s connection as well.
- Do not access SecureDrop on a computer provided by your employer.
- If possible, use a different computer than your personal one, that will be used only for SecureDrop communications. You can also use the security and anonymity oriented Tails operating system, which can run from an USB key, leaving no trace on your computer.
How to contact us through SecureDrop
Once you are connected to a public network, download and install the desktop version of Tor Browser.
Launch Tor Browser and copy the following address in the address bar:
http://3tcbrdg2ejwu5nzbjg7xqixkis6mdbgkkthcyxmzv2q3oi6v7th5ahqd.onion
Follow the instructions on the page to send us materials and messages.
When you make your first submission, you will receive a unique codename. Memorize it. If you write it down, be sure to destroy the copy as soon as you’ve committed it to memory. Use your codename to sign back in to our source page, check for responses from our journalists, and upload additional materials.
A file contains valuable metadata about its source — when it was created and downloaded, what machine was involved, the machine’s owner, etc. You can scrub metadata from some files prior to submission using the Metadata Anonymization Toolkit featured in Tails.
ProtonMail
ProtonMail is an encrypted email service that can be accessed on any device from a web browser. Communications between ProtonMail addresses are end-to-end encrypted: messages can only be read by their recipient.
To contact us on ProtonMail
Creating a ProtonMail account is free and does not require providing personal data. We recommend you use an alias rather that your real name or surname. If you already have a ProtonMail address, consider creating another one, separate from your real identity, to get in touch with us.
To register, follow this link: https://protonmail.com
Once your address has been activated, send us an email at redaction@disclose.ngo
For Additional Security
As explained in its Transparency Report, the Swiss company managing ProtonMail can in certain cases be forced to provide information about its users to authorities. You are still the only one with access to the content of your emails, but information such as dates, times and locations of connection to ProtonMail may be logged. To minimize this information, you can use the TorBrowser or a Virtual Private Network (VPN), following the guides below:
- How to Use Tor for Windows, MacOS and Linux (Electronic Frontier Foundation)
- Choosing the VPN That’s Right for You (Electronic Frontier Foundation)
PGP without ProtonMail
If you already use PGP on another platform, you can send us encrypted emails by downloading and adding our public key. Don’t forget to include your own public key in your first email so we can encrypt our reply. Be careful not to include any sensitive information in the “Subject” field, which is sometimes not encrypted.
Using PGP is complex and error-prone: if you do not have solid experience with it, we recommend you use Signal, SecureDrop, or ProtonMail instead.