The Guardian launches Secure Messaging, a world-first from a media organisation, in collaboration with the University of Cambridge
The Guardian has today (9 June) launched a unique new tool for protecting journalistic sources. Secure Messaging, a new whistleblowing innovation, makes it easier and safer for anyone to share stories and tips with our journalists via the Guardian app.
Built by the Guardian's product and engineering team in partnership with the University of Cambridge's Department of Computer Science and Technology, Secure Messaging is an exciting new approach to confidential communication between the public and the press.
Secure Messaging is unlike traditional information sharing platforms. The tech behind the tool conceals the fact that messaging is taking place at all. It makes the communication indistinguishable from data sent to and from the app by our millions of regular users. So, by using the Guardian app, readers are effectively providing 'cover' and helping us to protect sources.
Secure Messaging is not just a significant source protection tool for the Guardian. As part of our commitment to protecting the press and the public interest globally, the Guardian has published the source code for the technology that enables this system. This means that other organisations can use this technology freely to implement secure messaging tools within their own apps.
The development of Secure Messaging comes at a time when journalists and their confidential sources are under pressure in the US and globally. This work underpins the Guardian's long-standing commitment to investigative journalism in the public interest and to safeguarding those who take risks to expose the truth.
Katharine Viner, editor-in-chief, Guardian News & Media, says:
'Investigative reporting is extremely important to the Guardian; we have been exposing wrongdoing and scrutinising power with complete independence for decades. We know first-hand how impactful investigations so often depend on trusted reader-reporter interactions. Blowing the whistle on wrongdoing has always taken bravery and, as threats to journalists around the world increase, so does the need to protect confidential sources.'
Caspar Llewellyn Smith, chief product officer, Guardian News & Media says:
'Secure Messaging represents significant progress in protecting source anonymity. The Guardian is proud to lead the way in developing this new technology, working in close collaboration with the University of Cambridge. We have always had confidential processes for sharing digital information and Secure Messaging is a protected way for sources to get in touch – all within the secure environment of the Guardian app.'
Professor Alastair Beresford, Head of Cambridge's Department of Computer Science and Technology, says:
'News organisations serve a key role in a democracy, providing all of us with independent information about our society, and holding the powerful to account. Protecting the identity of sources is a critical component of what makes investigative journalism safe and effective. We are pleased to collaborate with the Guardian to improve communication security between sources and journalists by using Secure Messaging in their main news app. It's wonderful to see this technology released as open source software, and we are keen to work with other global news organisations to adopt this.'
Further information about how the Guardian created Secure Messaging, can be found here.
Secure Messaging is one of the key new features within the Guardian's recently updated news app. Download now on the App Store and Google Play.
[ENDS]
For interviews please contact media.enquiries@theguardian.com.
Notes to editors
The concept for Secure Messaging originated following a paper written by University of Cambridge researchers in 2022 – 'CoverDrop: blowing the whistle through a news app'. The paper, which included interviews with staff at the Guardian, explored the issue with keeping sources truly confidential within current whistleblowing tech. Once published, the Guardian started work to make the Secure Messaging service a reality, with its product and engineering investigations and reporting team building the app, alongside a member of the original research team from the University of Cambridge.
The academic paper about the Guardian's implementation received positive feedback from experts in applied cryptography, human computer interaction and decentralised systems. The technology has been audited by 7A Security (with funding from the Open Technology Fund).
The Guardian will continue to develop the platform, adding new enhancements and security measures in the coming months.
About Guardian Media Group
Guardian Media Group is amongst the world's leading media organisations. Its core business is Guardian News & Media (GNM), publisher of theguardian.com, one of the largest English-speaking quality news websites in the world.
In the UK, Guardian Media Group publishes the Guardian newspaper six days a week, first published in 1821. Since launching its US and Australian digital editions in 2011 and 2013, respectively, traffic from outside of the UK now represents around two-thirds of the Guardian's total digital audience. The Guardian also has an international digital edition and a new European edition that launched in 2023, with an expanded network of more than 20 European correspondents, editors and reporters.
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