It has always been difficult for journalists to communicate with a sensitive source. Sources who contact the media may put themselves in dangerous situations, violate contracts, violate laws, break promises and betray trust.
Meeting in a parking garage at 4am in trench coats - while still effective under certain circ*mstances - works less well in an age of CCTV and mobile phone tracking. When it comes to secure communication, phone calls are no more, but regular email isridiculously terribleand texting is just worse.
Enter: secure messaging apps.
These apps work on the same principles as PGP email encryption and are the new frontline in securing communications between journalists, sources and contacts. All of these apps offer end-to-end encryption. If the company running the servers is ever subpoenaed, all they can hand over to prosecutors is essentially junk.
But the problem with some of these services is that you have to trust that your data is safe, as proprietary companies usually don't open their software.
I discuss some of the pros and cons of different secure messaging apps and offer a few suggestions on which ones journalists should use. Remember, there is no right answer for everyone. Depending on who you're hiding from, some apps are more useful or useful than others.
1.) iReport
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2.)Signal
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3.)WhatsApp
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4.)Tox(a Skype "replacement")
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5.)Allo(Google's newest messaging platform. Yes, another)
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Take away food
If you're reporting on the big boys (USA, Russia, Israel, China), even these services may not be able to help you. It's unlikely to break the encryption protecting your messages, but the possibilities of malware on your device (or a very sophisticated man-in-the-middle attack)is much higher. In this case, there are also many other internet security issues to consider.
But if you're only concerned about securing your standard day-to-day communications, I'd recommend Signal. If you're one step below international espionage, iMessage, WhatsApp or Signal are all broadly suitable.
The biggest key to successfully using these tools is normalizing their use. If your team uses Signal, use it for everything. As the saying goes, those who go on the offensive need only get lucky once; defenders always have to be lucky.
Christopher Raad, a computer programmer and photojournalist, is an expert in mobile technology. He also has experience with media sustainability projects. Read more about his work as an ICFJ Knight Fellowher.
Main image CC licensed from Flickr viaQuinn Dombrowski.
