We take extremely seriously the security of our clients and their communications. Before you contact us, please read about our approach to security & trust.
We seek to build trust at every opportunity. It might not be comfortable sending large amounts of sensitive information at the outset. If you have details you don’t wish to share now, please share as much as you are comfortable with. If we might be able to help you, then you can share more details after we meet in person.
The most secure way to reach Whistleblower Aid is over a system called SecureDrop, using Tor Browser. It is easy to use, but it will take you about five minutes to send us a message. SecureDrop is not as quick as firing off an email. But it’s vastly more secure. We recommend SecureDrop for prospective clients who may be worried about identification (unmasking / de-anonymizing) or retaliation, or who are reporting on particularly sensitive issues.
Prospective clients can also reach us over the encrypted messaging app Signal. Signal is a trusted tool for those with a need to communicate privately in a wide range of situations. Signal may not be right for highly sensitive communications but it is easy to install and use and reasonably secure where anonymity is less of a concern.
Initial communications between lawyers and prospective clients for the purpose of deciding whether or not to establish legal representation are protected by attorney-client privilege. We will protect all your communications as much as possible.
Whistleblower Aid does not accept classified information. Whistleblower Aid will never assist prospective or current clients with leaking classified information. Because we do not wish to receive classified documents from anyone, we have deliberately disabled the functionality to send documents to us over SecureDrop. Our custom installation of SecureDrop has been modified to permit only text messages.
We understand that some members of the U.S. intelligence community may be hesitant to utilize encrypted services like Tor Browser and Signal. Therefore, we recommend that you ask a trusted friend or family member (not in the IC) to install one of these services on their device and send messages on your behalf until we can meet.