SecureDrop is the whistleblowing system the Freedom of the Press Foundation maintains for newsrooms. A source opens an onion address in Tor Browser, leaves documents without an account, and can continue the conversation in that channel. Major newsrooms publish their SecureDrop addresses on their own sites.
Fake onion addresses exist. Copy the address from the newsroom’s HTTPS page, not from a search ad or a reply on social media. Tor is slow. The source’s safety also depends on not uploading the files from a machine and an account that already identify them. SecureDrop is the newsroom’s box. It is not a personal chat app.
Use it only at a newsroom whose address you checked. securedrop.org
SecureDrop sources should use Tor Browser, a network that is not their home if that is in the newsroom’s guide, and files that do not contain their real name in the metadata. Photos carry locations. Strip them or do not send them. The journalist cannot protect a document that says who took it. Find the onion address on the newsroom’s normal site over HTTPS, then paste it. Do not search for the onion address.
