Addressing Security and Privacy Concerns

People will not fill out your form if they don’t understand what you will (and won’t) do with their information.

In the case of Documenting Hate, our form clearly says that we keep sources’ information confidential, and that it won’t be voluntarily shared with law enforcement. But we do explain that their information will be shared with other partners in the project. You may need to repeat some of this information when you reach out to tipsters.

Our Collaborate tool is secure by default, including access controls and data encryption. But if you build your own database, it’s vital that you set up levels of security to ensure only authorized users can access it. Depending on what information you’re collecting, it may even be legally required that you do so.