Sending us information via a secure platform
What is SecureDrop?
The SecureDrop system on Mediapart is a secure means for our readers to safely and discretely submit information for the attention of our team of investigative journalists. It provides heightened security, and a guarantee of anonymity, for those who may wish to send a large volume of sensitive documents.
The SecureDrop system on Mediapart uses the Tor browser, which is designed to encrypt your communications and to hide the IP address of your computer.
If you want to make rapid, direct contact with our investigative team, also in a secure manner and with a relatively small volume of documents, you can use the following email address: enquete@mediapart.fr
How to use SecureDrop
- Go to a location which has a public internet connection, outside of your workplace.
- Download and install on a personal computer (and not one provided by your workplace) the Tor browser available from the following address: https://www.torproject.org/
-
Open the Tor browser and copy the following URL into the address bar:
wmqzwx5jbcaciuore32ljrxwmz6vcgggtpvocofh64py65e7pdu6p5qd.onion
- Using that URL, you will find instructions on how to send messages and documents to a secure drop box which Mediapart’s investigative team periodically checks into.
- If you wish to be recontacted by Mediapart’s investigative team, we urge you to include your contact details (a telephone number and/or email address – and if necessary a specially created email address).
- You will then receive a codename which you can use to check for any reply that Mediapart may have sent you.
- Keep the codename you have been given in a secure place. The codename is entirely personal – Mediapart will not have access to it – and you should not share it with anyone else whoever they are. Please note that if you lose your codename, we will have no other means of contacting you (unless you have provided personal contact details).
What measures are taken to protect my private life and anonymity?
The SecureDrop system proposed by Mediapart for sending us documents is designed to minimise digital tracks by using best practices, such as the following:
- Limit the amount of information recorded on your computer, navigator, or operating system;
- Use Tor to encrypt and provide anonymity for your communications with Mediapart;
- The storage of document submissions in encrypted form on our system which isolates SecureDrop from the internet and the rest of our internal network.
In the case of the most highly sensitive material, as well as using SecureDrop we recommend you employ the following precautions:
- Send your message from a public place that you do not normally visit;
- Use an operating system that helps to preserve your privacy and anonymity, such as Tails;
- Delete traces of communications that you may keep on your computer, such as copies of messages.
Mediapart works diligently to protect the identity of our sources and to ensure the confidentiality of the information they provide.
The SecureDrop software is developed by an outside body (the Freedom of the Press Foundation) and not by our in-house teams. It is a system which, like for other leading media organisations, has our confidence.