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I love tips, documents and data. Below you will find suggestions from the Freedom of the Freedom of the Press Foundation on how to safely share information.
Use Signal for private messaging
Signal is a free and open source, secure messaging app for iPhones and Android devices. Signal gives you free end-to-end encrypted messages and phone calls. Signal only retains your phone number, your signup date, and when you were last active. Compare this to WhatsApp, which we do not recommend because the service keeps data about users' contacts. In Signal, you can also make messages self-destruct for everyone in the conversation automatically after a set amount of time. This makes it significantly harder (but not impossible) to eavesdrop on your conversations. If you want help getting started, read this beginner-friendly guide on using Signal. Note that Signal requires both users to share their phone numbers. When reaching out to journalists, consider registering Signal with a number that your organization is unlikely to connect to you, and understand that Signal is not designed to facilitate complete anonymity. You can find me on Signat using my name Christine Stapleton.
Call from a phone number unconnected to you.
For example, go to a business you don’t usually go to, and ask to use their phone. You can also buy a cheap cell phone and prepaid phone card that cannot be traced back to you, but know this involves several careful steps: You must pay with cash, and if your organization can have access to phone location records, it’s best to only turn on the phone in locations unassociated with you. That also means using the phone in locations separate from your permanent phone. If you can, remove the battery when it’s not in use.
Send your materials through physical mail.
You can mail electronic documents (e.g., on an SD card) or physical documents through ordinary mail. Be warned: the U.S. postal service takes pictures of the exterior of physical mail. So don’t use a return address that is associated with you, and mail it in from a sidewalk mailbox in a location you don’t usually frequent. If you have a particular reporter you want to look into your story, copy them on the envelope. Please send documents to 819 Ardmore Road, West Palm Beach, FL 33401.