How to contact DW Investigations confidentially
April 3, 2023
We are a dedicated team of investigative journalists who rely on your help to inform our global audience about systemic injustice, abuse of power and human rights violations.
Do you have sensitive information or documents that you would like to share with us confidentially?
Please keep in mind that tips must be newsworthy. Also, we need documentation and evidence rather than suspicion and feelings.
The more concrete your information is and the more detailed you can document your accusations, the better we can deal with them.
Contact options for DW Investigations are dedicated to informants and whistleblowers who wish to contact us as securely as possible with sensitive information and material of public interest.
Please do not contact us via these channels if you have general comments on the content of our program or if you want to send us press releases or general story pitches. For this purpose, DW has set up different channels which you can explore in the contact section.
Here are the options for how you can contact DW Investigations — but please remember that no method is completely bulletproof in terms of security. Think carefully about how much anonymity and security you need.
WhatsApp is still the most popular messaging app. It is free with end-to-end encryption and allows the transfer of documents, photos and videos. It is owned by Meta and some data is retained.
Our WhatsApp number is: +491733068835
You can find out more about WhatsApp and where to download it here.
Signal
Signal is a free messaging app with end-to-end encryption like WhatsApp. The Signal servers do not store your data. You can also set up the app so that your messages disappear after a short period. Through Signal, you can send us messages, documents and videos or talk to one of our editors.
We recommend using this messenger app.
Our Signal number is: +491733068835
You can find out more about Signal and where to download it here.
Your average emails can easily be spied on. Encrypted emails via providers such as Proton, Tutanota or Posteo offer much better protection.
Our email addresses are: tips@dw.com and DW.tips@protonmail.com
You can find out more about Proton Mail here, Tutanota here or Posteo here.
However, even if the content of the email is encrypted, its path through the net can be followed and metadata can be traced back to you. We recommend downloading the Tor browser, which allows users to disguise their identity. Tor is a network for anonymizing connection data.
You can find out more about Tor here.
You can also send us a letter or a parcel — but for security reasons without a visible return address. In order for us to contact you, it is best to leave one of the above contact options inside.
Our address:
DW Investigations
Voltastr. 6
13355 Berlin
Germany
General safety instructions
— Do not use a work computer or work phone to contact us.
— Do not use your private cell phone number or private email account to contact us. Instead, set up a dedicated address or number.
— Further protect your anonymity by using a VPN. For sensitive information, we recommend using Tor.
— Consider whether it might be safer to send an email from an internet cafe.
If reading this has encouraged rather than scared you, please do reach out. DW Investigations is very much looking forward to hearing from you.