Use case
How to talk to a journalist securely
If your safety depends on staying unknown, use SecureDrop or Signal — that is what they are built for. If you just need one quiet conversation with a reporter, FadeChats opens a browser room for two behind a link that works once.
Open a room for two
Open a room for twoThe tip line problem
You read a story, you know something about it, and you want to tell the person who wrote it. Then you look at the ways in: an email address with your name on it, a DM from an account that has your face on it, a phone number. Every route asks for a piece of you before you have decided anything.
Newsrooms know this, which is why the serious ones run SecureDrop — a Tor-based drop box built so that the newsroom cannot identify the person using it. If what you know could cost you your job, your immigration status or your freedom, that is the tool, and nothing on this page replaces it.
Most conversations with a reporter are not that. You want to correct a detail, point at a document that is already public, or ask whether something is worth their time before you commit to anything.
Four ways to reach a reporter
| SecureDrop | Signal | Newsroom email | FadeChats | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What you hand over | Nothing — reached over Tor | A phone number, unless you use a username | Your address and every header attached to it | Nothing — no account, no number |
| Hides your network location | Yes, by design | From the reporter, yes | No | No — the two browsers connect directly |
| Needs an install | Tor Browser | The Signal app, both sides | None | None — any browser |
| What the reporter can keep | Your submission, inside the newsroom's system | The thread, until somebody deletes it | Everything, indefinitely | Nothing — no log to export |
| Right for a high-risk source | Yes — this is the standard | Yes, and widely trusted | No | No |
Product behaviour as of August 2026. Check each newsroom's own contact page for what it actually accepts.
If being identified would cost you your job, stop here
This page is not going to pretend to be SecureDrop. FadeChats does not run over Tor, does not hide your network location from the person on the other end, and has never been audited by anyone. Whistleblowers, people under legal threat and sources inside a company with logging on the network need the tool their newsroom publishes, and they need it from a device that is not their employer's.
Setting up a one-off conversation
- Agree on the moment first
The invite link works once and expires in about ten minutes, so it is not something a newsroom can publish. Message the reporter on whatever channel you already have and ask to talk now.
- Open the room, send the link
The room exists as soon as the page loads. Tap Invite, copy the link, paste it back into that same channel. They tap it and they are in, in their own browser.
- Talk, then close the tab
Text and images travel straight between the two browsers. When you both stop, the room expires on its own and neither of you is left with a thread to remember to delete.
What this does not do
- It does not hide your IP address
The browsers connect directly, which is why nothing has to sit on a server — and it also means each side can see an address for the other. Against a curious reader that is nothing. Against anyone who can compel a record, it is not the protection Tor gives you.
- It is not a standing tip line
A one-time link that dies in ten minutes cannot live on a contact page. This is for a conversation the two of you have already agreed to have.
- It leaves the reporter nothing
No log, no export, no timestamped record. That is the point and it is also a real cost, because a reporter has to verify, and sometimes has to show an editor or a lawyer what was said. Say out loud what is on the record, and expect them to ask for something they can keep.
The file that already exists on you
All of the above is about the conversation. None of it touches what someone can find the moment they have a name to search. People-search sites publish home addresses, ages, phone numbers and relatives, assembled from public records by data brokers you never dealt with, and that is where anyone curious about you starts.
Disclosure: the link below is an affiliate link. If you subscribe through it, FadeChats earns a commission at no extra cost to you. FadeChats itself stays free, ad-free and account-free — this is what pays for the writing.
Optery scans hundreds of those sites for listings of you, files the removals and re-checks monthly, because brokers re-add any record they can still sell. The free exposure report shows what is published, with screenshots, before you pay for anything. Two limits worth knowing: it covers the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, and it is a slow cleanup measured in months, not something to start the week you decide to talk to someone.
Check your exposure
Frequently asked questions
How do I contact a journalist anonymously?
If anonymity is the actual requirement, use the newsroom's SecureDrop page, from a device and a network that are not your employer's. It is built so the newsroom cannot identify you. FadeChats sits a step below that: no account, no phone number and no stored copy, but no Tor and no anonymity guarantee.
Can the journalist see my IP address?
Assume yes. The chat connects the two browsers directly, and an address for each side is part of making that connection work. If that matters for your situation, SecureDrop over Tor is the answer and this is not.
Is Signal good enough for talking to a reporter?
For most stories, yes — it is what reporters publish for exactly this. It does need a phone number to register, though a username now lets you start a chat without showing it, and the thread sits on both phones until somebody deletes it.
Can I send a document?
Not as a file. FadeChats carries text, images, GIFs and stickers, so a photo of a page works and a folder of PDFs does not. A real document set belongs in SecureDrop, where the newsroom can handle it properly.
Does the reporter need an account or an app?
No. They tap the link and land in the room in whatever browser they already have, on a phone or a laptop. Nothing to install and nothing to sign up for, on either side.