How to contact WikiLeaks? What is Tor? Tips for Sources After Submitting
How to contact WikiLeaks? What is Tor? Tips for Sources After Submitting

Contact

If you need help using Tor you can contact WikiLeaks for assistance in setting it up using our simple webchat available at: /talk

If you can use Tor, but need to contact WikiLeaks for other reasons use our secured webchat available at http://wlchatc3pjwpli5r.onion

We recommend contacting us over Tor if you can.

How to contact WikiLeaks? What is Tor? Tips for Sources After Submitting

Tor

Tor is an encrypted anonymising network that makes it harder to intercept internet communications, or see where communications are coming from or going to.

In order to use the WikiLeaks public submission system as detailed above you can download the Tor Browser Bundle, which is a Firefox-like browser available for Windows, Mac OS X and GNU/Linux and pre-configured to connect using the anonymising system Tor.

Tails

If you are at high risk and you have the capacity to do so, you can also access the submission system through a secure operating system called Tails. Tails is an operating system launched from a USB stick or a DVD that aim to leaves no traces when the computer is shut down after use and automatically routes your internet traffic through Tor. Tails will require you to have either a USB stick or a DVD at least 4GB big and a laptop or desktop computer.

How to contact WikiLeaks? What is Tor? Tips for Sources After Submitting

Tips

Our submission system works hard to preserve your anonymity, but we recommend you also take some of your own precautions. Please review these basic guidelines.

1. Contact us if you have specific problems

If you have a very large submission, or a submission with a complex format, or are a high-risk source, please contact us. In our experience it is always possible to find a custom solution for even the most seemingly difficult situations.

2. What computer to use

If the computer you are uploading from could subsequently be audited in an investigation, consider using a computer that is not easily tied to you. Technical users can also use Tails to help ensure you do not leave any records of your submission on the computer.

3. Do not talk about your submission to others

If you have any issues talk to WikiLeaks. We are the global experts in source protection – it is a complex field. Even those who mean well often do not have the experience or expertise to advise properly. This includes other media organisations.

How to contact WikiLeaks? What is Tor? Tips for Sources After Submitting

After

1. Do not talk about your submission to others

If you have any issues talk to WikiLeaks. We are the global experts in source protection – it is a complex field. Even those who mean well often do not have the experience or expertise to advise properly. This includes other media organisations.

2. Act normal

If you are a high-risk source, avoid saying anything or doing anything after submitting which might promote suspicion. In particular, you should try to stick to your normal routine and behaviour.

3. Remove traces of your submission

If you are a high-risk source and the computer you prepared your submission on, or uploaded it from, could subsequently be audited in an investigation, we recommend that you format and dispose of the computer hard drive and any other storage media you used.

In particular, hard drives retain data after formatting which may be visible to a digital forensics team and flash media (USB sticks, memory cards and SSD drives) retain data even after a secure erasure. If you used flash media to store sensitive data, it is important to destroy the media.

If you do this and are a high-risk source you should make sure there are no traces of the clean-up, since such traces themselves may draw suspicion.

4. If you face legal action

If a legal action is brought against you as a result of your submission, there are organisations that may help you. The Courage Foundation is an international organisation dedicated to the protection of journalistic sources. You can find more details at https://www.couragefound.org.

Submit documents to WikiLeaks

WikiLeaks publishes documents of political or historical importance that are censored or otherwise suppressed. We specialise in strategic global publishing and large archives.

The following is the address of our secure site where you can anonymously upload your documents to WikiLeaks editors. You can only access this submissions system through Tor. (See our Tor tab for more information.) We also advise you to read our tips for sources before submitting.

http://ibfckmpsmylhbfovflajicjgldsqpc75k5w454irzwlh7qifgglncbad.onion

If you cannot use Tor, or your submission is very large, or you have specific requirements, WikiLeaks provides several alternative methods. Contact us to discuss how to proceed.

How to contact WikiLeaks? What is Tor? Tips for Sources After Submitting

Press Release: WikiLeaks opens path through banking siege. Donations open.

18 July 2012

Wednesday July 18, 11:00

After almost two years of fighting an unlawful banking blockade by US financial giants VISA and MasterCard, WikiLeaks has announced it is back open for donations.

After WikiLeaks' publications revealing US war crimes and statecraft in 2010, US financial institutions erected a banking blockade against WikiLeaks wholly outside of any judicial or administrative process. The blockade came during a time of substantial economic growth for WikiLeaks but blocked more than 95% of donations, costing the organization in excess of USD 20 million.

The Wau Holland Transparency Reports for WikiLeaks' finances, released today, illustrate the financial consequences of 18 consecutive months of economic censorship. For the year 2011, the blockade resulted in WikiLeaks' income falling to just 21% of its operating costs.

WikiLeaks has been forced to run on its cash reserves at the Wau Holland Foundation, which have diminished from EUR 800,000 at the end of December 2010, to less than EUR 100,000 at the end of June 2012. As the graph shows, WikiLeaks' reserve funds will expire at the current austere rate of expenditure within a few months. In order to effectively continue its mission, WikiLeaks must raise a minimum of EUR 1 million immediately.

Against this background, WikiLeaks is launching a new payment gateway, designed to work around the blockade.

The French credit card system, Carte Bleue, is coupled with the VISA/MasterCard system globally. VISA and MasterCard are contractually barred from directly cutting off merchants through the Carte Bleue system. The French non-profit FDNN (Fund for the Defense of Net Neutrality- Fonds de Défense de la Net Neutralité) has set up a Carte Bleue fund for WikiLeaks.

WikiLeaks advises all global supporters to make use of this avenue immediately before VISA/MasterCard attempts to shut it down.

However, WikiLeaks and FDNN are ready for the fight. Julian Assange, WikiLeaks' founder said: "We beat them in Iceland and, by God, we'll beat them in France as well. Let them shut it down. Let them demonstrate to the world once again their corrupt pandering to Washington. We're waiting. Our lawyers are waiting. The whole world is waiting. Do it."

WikiLeaks is pursuing several actions against the blockade.

Last week, WikiLeaks won a landmark lawsuit against VISA Iceland (Valitor). In July 2011 WikiLeaks opened a path through the blockade, when VISA-Valitor agreed to process payments to WikiLeaks through the Icelandic payment gateway, Datacell. Soon afterwards, VISA-Valitor blocked donations and ended its relationship with Datacell, in violation of its contractual obligations. Delivering its judgment last week, the Icelandic court in Reykjavik ruled that the donation gateway should be reopened by 26 July 2012, otherwise VISA-Valitor will be penalized with a fine of ISK 800,000 daily.

A European Commission preliminary investigation into the blockade was started in July 2011. A Commission decision on whether to pursue the financial services companies involved in the blockade is expected before the end of August.

The UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression Frank William La Rue, the European Parliament, the New York Times Editorial, and many rights groups have condemned the blockade.

Australian Greens Senator Scott Ludlam last week called on the Australian government to take domestic actions against the banking blockade.

LINKS:

FDNN-WikiLeaks Payment Gateway (Donate here): https://shop.wikileaks.ru/donate#dccard

Wau Holland Monthly Balance Sheet for the years 2010, 2011 and 2012: http://wauland.de/files/2010-2012_Projekt04-Balance.pdf

Wau Holland Transparency Report for 2011: http://wauland.de/files/2011_Transparenzbericht-Projekt04_en.pdf

Auf Deutsch: http://wauland.de/files/2011_Transparenzbericht-Projekt04_de.pdf

Wau Holland Transparency Report for 2012: http://wauland.de/files/2012-1_Transparenzbericht-Projekt04_en.pdf

Auf Deutsch: http://wauland.de/files/2012-1_Transparenzbericht-Projekt04_de.pdf

For more information on the WikiLeaks banking blockade, please see: http://wikileaks.ru/Banking-Blockade

For WikiLeaks press contacts, please see: http://wikileaks.ru/Press

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