The Trace needs your help to shine a light on America’s gun violence crisis. If you work or have worked for a law enforcement agency, the federal government, in the gun industry, or at an advocacy organization of any political stripe and want to share evidence of wrongdoing, or confidential information, with our newsroom, please consider this page your guide to ensuring that your tip gets into the right hands, and gets there as securely as possible.

Source protection is of paramount importance to The Trace. We take precautions to securely and privately speak with sources, and protect confidentiality.

Please do not send feedback, story ideas, pitches, or press releases through the following channels — contact info for general correspondence can be found on our contact us page.

To securely email our newsroom, send your message to [email protected]. 

If security or confidentiality is a concern, please scroll down for a guide to encrypted communication. 

If you’re unsure of who to contact, you can always email us at [email protected].

Secure Submission Tools

While the submission tools we list below provide an enhanced level of privacy and security through encryption, no method of communication is completely secure. You should choose the method that you are most comfortable with.

It’s good to follow some best practices regardless of the method you choose. 

  • Never put sensitive information in the subject line of an email or message.
  • Do not use company or government emails, accounts, phone numbers, internet networks, or computers to communicate with us.
  • Use a private browsing window: While your traffic may still be available to your internet service provider, it could help ensure you’re not accidentally logged into a work or government email account.
  • For extra security, consider using the Tor browser or a trusted VPN to hide your IP address.
  • Avoid using existing accounts when possible. Create new accounts to communicate with us.

Signal

Signal is an encrypted messaging app popular among journalists and leakers for its security. It collects minimal metadata on your messages and does not upload your message history to the cloud. Signal is also open source: That means its code is constantly being tested — and improved — by developers around the world. Signal accounts are associated with a phone number. Despite Signal’s strong encryption, you should not use the app on government or company devices or networks.

What to do

  • Download Signal on iOS or Android.
  • Add the reporter you want to reach by their telephone number or username, which you can find in the table below.
  • Compose your message and hit send.

What to expect

  • The reporter will respond in a timely manner.
  • We will not contact you by any other means unless you tell us you feel safe doing so.

Encrypted Email

Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) is an encryption standard that allows you to send encrypted messages and documents. When communications are encrypted, only the sender and recipient can read them. Using PGP can be complicated, so we recommend using ProtonMail, a free encrypted email provider that uses PGP, or installing Mailvelope, a Chrome and Firefox extension that simplifies the process.

While ProtonMail and Mailvelope encrypt the messages or documents that you send over email, the services do not encrypt metadata such as your IP and email addresses, the recipient’s address, the subject line, or the timestamp. This metadata could be accessible to your email and internet service providers. Never put sensitive information in the subject line, and do not use company or government emails, networks, or computers. For extra security, consider using the Tor browser or a trusted VPN to hide your IP address.

ProtonMail (Easiest)

  • Create a free ProtonMail account at protonmail.com.
  • Simply compose an email to the ProtonMail address of the reporter you want to reach.

Messages between ProtonMail email addresses are automatically end-to-end and zero-access encrypted, meaning not even the service provider can see the content of your messages or hand them over to third parties.

Mailvelope (Browser extension for existing email)

  • Download the Mailvelope browser extension for Chrome or Firefox.
  • Use the extension to generate a new PGP key pair for yourself.
  • You can either manually add public keys for our writers listed below, or you can simply type in the writer’s email when first composing a message using Mailvelope. Writers who provide a Mailvelope contact option below are listed in Mailvelope’s key directory, so the software will automatically search for and add their public keys based on an e-mail address.
  • If you’re sending a plain text e-mail, follow Mailvelope’s instructions on how to compose, sign, and send encrypted messages.
  • If you’re sending an attachment, follow Mailvelope’s instructions on how to encrypt files.
  • If you would like us to respond to your message with PGP, be sure you sign the email and include your public key.

PGP without Mailvelope or ProtonMail

Some advanced tipsters may prefer to send us a PGP-encrypted email without Mailvelope or ProtonMail. We welcome that, too. However, you should be sure that you understand how PGP encryption works. Otherwise, we do not recommend this method. If you would like us to be able to respond to your message with encryption, be sure you sign the email and include your public key.

As with the other PGP services, metadata could be accessible to your email and internet service providers. Never put sensitive information in the subject line, and do not use company or government emails, networks, or computers.

What to expect

  • We’ll respond to you via Mailvelope, ProtonMail, or PGP-encrypted email upon receipt of your encrypted message unless you request we do not.
  • We will not contact you by any other means that might compromise your anonymity unless you tell us you feel safe doing so.

USPS Mail

While physical mail reduces many of the risks associated with digital communication, the U.S. Postal Service does record the packaging of everything sent through its system. That can include the location where you send a package, the recipient, and a handwriting sample. Law enforcement could also search your parcel. 

Our mailing address is:

225 4th Ave, #300 

Brooklyn, NY 

11215

What to do

  • If you know who you want to reach, include their name on the outside or inside of your package or envelope. You can also simply address it to “The Trace.”
  • We recommend you use a public mailbox.
  • You can mail us paper materials or digital files on a thumb drive. 
  • Include instructions indicating how you would like to be contacted, if you desire to speak with a reporter.

What to expect

  • Once we receive your letter or package, we’ll contact you only if you instruct us to.