A Word on GlobaLeaks

Readers who have followed the development of secure whistleblowing platforms may wonder why the GlobaLeaks system does not receive consideration in this report. SecureDrop and GlobaLeaks share many qualities in common—both were designed to facilitate secure communication with whistleblowers; both are based around the Tor anonymous web browser; both have been audited by security firms to test for weaknesses; and both are free and open-source software developed to serve a role resembling that of WikiLeaks. From a technical standpoint, GlobaLeaks is also considerably less trouble to install than SecureDrop, which could be advantageous in many circumstances. But the reality is that GlobaLeaks is not being used by news organizations in the United States, Canada, or Great Britain, which together form the empirical scope of this research. On the other hand, GlobaLeaks has established a foothold in the Netherlands, where fifteen news organizations collectively support a fork of the GlobaLeaks system called PubLeaks. Given that SecureDrop is the only secure whistleblowing system being employed by news organizations in the English-speaking world, however, it is the only platform addressed in this report.