Want to share your story and documents with ICN’s journalists? These steps will go a long way to protecting you.
It’s simple: We need you.
Climate change imperils our communities, our country and our planet. But narratives that downplay climate risks and the absence of policies to curb emissions have slowed our response to this existential threat. Shedding light on how we got here will provide a profoundly useful public service.
Insiders from corporations, the government and private organizations are the best guides to understanding how action is stymied. Your voices dispel myths, ask urgent questions and offer critical insights. You help us keep officials, executives and institutions accountable.
We are aware of the risks people face in revealing information and internal documents to reporters. None of us know the level of surveillance that employers use with their staff. So you should assume that your employer is keeping tabs on you and all other employees.
If you want to share your story and your documents with Inside Climate News, these steps will go a long way to protecting you.
DONT’s
- Don’t use your work email, computer or nearby post office to contact us.
- Don’t contact us through social media.
- Don’t talk about what you’re doing with anyone else.
- Don’t contact us via a work-issued mobile phone. If you use your personal cell phone, consider installing an encryption app. Signal is most recommended. Try to avoid speaking to us on your home landline.
DO’s
- Use U.S. mail to send documents. Don’t include a return address; if necessary, put one inside the envelope, not on the outside. Consider mailing it from one town over so the postmark doesn’t show your town. If you plan to communicate with us regularly, consider getting a P.O. box at that site. (Again, do not use a return address.) Our snail-mail address is below.
- Send paper documents, or digital media such as CDs and thumb drives. Please include an explanation of what you are sending and why it’s important for the public to see.
- To communicate with ICN via email, set up a new, anonymous account to be used only for our communications. Use a strong password. Don’t give your name or any other identifying information. Use an open wifi network you don’t frequent, like a coffee shop or a library, when setting up and using the account. (On a home wifi network, it’s easy to trace your location and identity via your IP address.) Ideally, use the anonymous Tor browser — instead of Chrome, Safari or Firefox.
- When communicating by email, we highly recommend using an encryption program like PGP. Our PGP handles are included in our profiles.
- If you want to speak to someone at ICN, also consider getting the Signal app on your smartphone. It encrypts voice calls and text messages.
- Consider buying a burner phone. Use cash.
ADDRESS:
Inside Climate News
26 Court Street
Suite 1617
Brooklyn, NY 11242