Anonymous communications

The mailbox guarantees the confidentiality of communications and the indemnity of whistleblowers at all times. Their identification and contact details can be provided, or if they prefer, their communication can be made anonymously.

They have two options for making anonymous communications:

Using their browser but without providing identifying and contact data. In this case, the IP address can be traced from the one the communication is made from.
Guarantee full anonymity of the communication in the digital environment (and the IP address too, which may identify whoever browses the Internet), using an anonymisation network. The TOR network is the most-used tool. As with any other browser, the use of the TOR tool requires downloading the browser from the corresponding page. This link offers a tutorial video on how to download the TOR tool.

Analyses of the tools used by other associations dedicated to citizen reports and contributions from experts in these issues recommend providing this anonymisation option to preserve the integrity of whistleblowers who are often in vulnerable situations.

The TOR network is basically a free software and open code that enables improved online privacy and security. By connecting to the Internet with TOR, the connection passes through a series of encrypted tunnels rather than directly, making it hard for the source of the information to be traced. The identity of the individual connected, then, is protected.

Use of the TOR network for accessing the mailbox is recommended or essential where there is a convincing or certain risk, as it guarantees the anonymity of the individual when receiving the communication. However, it should be noted that whoever communicates must also preserve their anonymity during the emission. Remember the suggestions made here in the “Advance warning” section (which refers, for example, to metadata deletions etc.)

Remember that the City Council's workers and, in general, public services working with institutional networks have no access to this page for downloading from their workstations. To use the TOR browser, they’ll have to download it from their personal device.

The recommendation is to close all other browsers and applications when using TOR.

Ethics and Good Governance Mailbox