I am based in the London bureau of the Wall Street Journal.
Get in touch if you have any story ideas or tips for us to follow up.
The basics:
[email protected]
Mobile: +447584600950
Office: +442078429208
If you are worried about authorities or the company you work for reading your messages, you should take precautions. Technology solutions are imperfect, but here are a few tactics for making contact:
CHAT MESSENGERS
Signal is the gold-standard for encrypted messaging and phone calls. You can download it here: https://whispersystems.org/
You can add my mobile phone number to your contacts and I'll pop up as available. If you don't want to save my number, you can also send message through the system by typing my number into the search box and it will give you the option to click "New conversation with +447584600950."
Signal will keep a record of when you set up an account and what phone number you've used, which can be sensitive information.
One shortcoming of Signal is that it's difficult to use without giving up your actual cell phone number, so another option is to use the secure messaging app called Wire: https://wire.com/en/. First create a quick e-mail address that doesn't include your name anywhere through a service like ProtonMail: https://protonmail.com/.
Then, create an account online or through the desktop application using that e-mail address (don't register your phone number) and a pseudonym. I can be found there via my username, @bradleyhope.
Another app that allows for a similar arrangement is WickrMe, which has a few security features that some people prefer. Wickr: https://www.wickr.com/
WhatsApp is ok for most things, but it has weaknesses. I don't recommend Telegram, Threema or text messages.
SECURE DROP
The Wall Street Journal has created a Secure Drop facility for people wanting to submit documents or send messages to our staff anonymously. Anything you provide via this system will be encrypted on a computer under our physical control and only decrypted on an offline computer disconnected to any network. The system is designed to help protect your anonymity, even from the Journal.
To use SecureDrop, you should follow these steps. For the best identity protection, we suggest you connect to the internet using a public Wi-Fi network.
Download and install the Tor browser here: https://www.torproject.org
Open the browser, wait for a connection, and then copy and paste this URL into the address bar: p7exvfz35jydt25f.onion
Once you’ve done this, the system will give you further instructions and a code name, which you should remember or write on a piece of paper that you keep in a safe place. The Journal will only be able to contact you within SecureDrop via this anonymous code name.
You can send me an encrypted e-mail using PGP at [email protected].
Encryption only protects the message itself, not the subject of the e-mail addresses of the people involved.
My key can be found here:
https://github.com/bradleyhopeWSJ/contact/blob/master/PGPKey
Bradley Hope
WALL STREET JOURNAL, 7th Floor
1 London Bridge Street, London SE1 9GF
United Kingdom
Don't put your return address on the outside of the envelope.