Anonymous online dropboxes for whistleblowing are on the rise

The number of secure online dropboxes, used by alertadores as a safe way to make a report about corruption, is growing across Europe, according to a new research report just published in Spain.

Believed to be the first ever study in Spanish to research the spread and use of this digital method for citizens to disclose serious wrongdoing, the report found:

• Dropbox adoption is expanding beyond early adopters in media and media-adjacent organisations, to public and private institutions across the EU

• Public authorities who have implemented secure online dropbox systems have found them to be of significant value

• The ability to have ongoing communication with a whistleblower is a particularly valued property of secure online dropbox systems

• Legal obligations make a difference to adoption at the point when they become national law. This is particularly the case in countries where whistleblower frameworks do not already exist, such as Spain.

• Lack of clarity about the relation of whistleblowing procedures to other regulatory areas, for instance data protection, inhibits the take up of secure online dropboxes.

• Authorities should consider providing a how-to guide to assist organisations with implementing internal channels.

• Dropbox operators should be prepared for users to default to the least secure way of using their channel, even if the alertador wants to stay anonymous.

"Expandiendo tecnologia de anonimización en Europa"(‘Expanding Anonymous Tipping Technology in Europe’) was produced by international freedom of speech NGO Blueprint for Free Speech and Spanish human rights NGO NGO La Fundación Internacional Baltasar Garzón (FIBGAR). The Spanish-language study comes from a two-year European Commission-funded project to build new and innovative channels for fighting corruption. The cutting-edge project included NGOs working on the ground in partnership on anti-corruption actions across 11 EU member states.

The study looked at the factors that lead to organisations adopting secure online dropboxes as a route for public submissions, or as part of their own internal compliance mechanisms, and how the boxes are used in practice.

“This study is timely for Spain because, like all EU countries, Spain must adopt a national law based on EU Directive 2019/1937, a law protecting those who report serious wrongdoing, by the end of 2021,” said Blueprint For Free Speech’s researcher for Spain Bruno Galizzi.

“Spain has a harder road, because most EU countries are upgrading existing laws for this, while Spain has no standalone whistleblower protection law and must start from the beginning – and time is running out,” co-publisher of the report, FIBGAR’s Alessia Schiavon said.

One of the findings of the study report was that organisations were often reluctant to introduce secure digital dropboxes if there was no whistleblower protection law in place, because companies did not have certainty about the rules.

“We are releasing the Spanish edition of the report to draw attention to the urgency of the need for Spain to pass its own standalone whistleblower law,’Galizzi said.

You can download the E.A.T. report here in English and Spanish.