SecureDrop is a tool to help people securely send messages and documents to the Guardian. It uses the Tor network to preserve source anonymity by hiding where messages came from. All communication is encrypted in transit and on our server. To avoid surveillance and interception, submissions from sources are decrypted on a device that is isolated from both the internet and our internal networks.

To access our SecureDrop site you need to use a browser application that can access the Tor network.

Use of the Tor network helps hide your identity online, but it does not guarantee the safety of the computer that you use to contact us. We recommend that you avoid accessing SecureDrop from small networks where use of a Tor browser may be monitored or restricted. If there is any risk of your browser activity being recorded, it's advisable not to jump straight from this information page to the actual Guardian SecureDrop site. You could instead make a note of the SecureDrop ‘onion’ URL (see below) and then wait to connect to that site at another time or on a different computer.

If SecureDrop is not the right tool for you, please consider some of the other options in our interactive guide: How to contact the Guardian securely.

How to access the Guardian’s SecureDrop service

1. Download and install software to access the Tor network: https://www.torproject.org. For security reasons, we advise you, especially if you are uploading documents, not to use your home or work network, but instead to use a public Wi-Fi network in an area where your screen is not visible to security cameras. Alternately, you can start up your computer from a USB key loaded with the Tails secure operating system, which is available at https://tails.net and includes the Tor web browser.
2. Once you launch the Tor browser, copy and paste the URL xp44cagis447k3lpb4wwhcqukix6cgqokbuys24vmxmbzmaq2gjvc2yd.onion or theguardian.securedrop.tor.onion into the Tor address bar. When the page loads, you will find further instructions on how to submit files and messages to the Guardian.
3. You will be assigned a randomly generated and unique code phrase. If a writer or editor at the Guardian wants to contact you about the information you have submitted, they will leave a message for you in SecureDrop. The messages can only be accessed using your code name. These messages are the only way we will be able to reach you.

The SecureDrop software is an open source project sponsored by the Freedom of the Press Foundation. The software has been through thorough independent security reviews to ensure that it meets stringent confidentiality and anti-leakage requirements. The platform has been built and commissioned with the latest fixes for the Heartbleed SSL vulnerability.