HOw to contact Paper trail media

You wanna send us confidential information? Source protection is our highest priority. Please, keep in mind: Communication by telephone and email is probably not secure enough, particularly if you would like to send us sensitive information or if you are writing from an authoritarian country. Before establishing contact with us, please consider the pros and cons of various communication tools and methods and follow some basic rules.

  • Unencrypted emails, skype and/or telephone calls are NO secure way of communication. Your communication can be easily accessed by police and intelligence services as well as private actors.
  • Never write emails from your office or using your company email address. Nor should you send other forms of electronic communication from devices to which any third party does have access, such as devices belonging to your employer. In particularly sensitive cases, you should also avoid using your telephone, whether mobile or landline, or your private email address.
  • In most countries, buyers of prepaid SIM cards are required to present their IDs, which means that even calls made from prepaid mobile phones can possibly be traced.
  • We highly recommend encrypted communication, i.e. email-encryption via PGP and or messenger services like Signal or Threema. In general, we recommend using the TOR network to reduce your footprint while being online.
  • The Electronic Frontier Foundation's Surveillance Self-Defense is a good source of information on encrypted ways of communication.
  • As strange as it may sound, traditional mail is a relatively secure method. But: You should assume that any address information provided will be recorded. 

Who can help? The Signals Network (TSN), an unaffiliated 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, provides independent support to select sensitive sources of paper trail media. Founded in 2017, TSN supports whistleblowers with a holistic suite of services including legal assistance, psychological support, physical security measures, temporary safe housing, online safety protection, career guidance, and communication support.

 

What makes a good tip? Ideally, you are clearly articulating a problem or wrongdoing you have knowledge of. Please, provide documentation or evidence. Be specific - and patient. We will answer as soon as possible. 

 

How to reach us? You can find the email-addresses - including PGP-pubkey - of our team here. Our mailing address is: paper trail media GmbH, Goethestraße 28, 80336 Munich, Germany. You can reach paper trail media via Signal and Threema (SXSJ6RVP)

 

Furthermore, paper trail media is currently setting up a Secure Drop-system. Secure Drop is a whistleblower submission system to securely receice documents from anonymous sources. In the meantime you can use the Secure Drop system of our partner Der Spiegel - please mention #papertrailmedia explicitly in your message.