When you contact me as a journalist, you can do so without worrying that I will tell anyone who you are or even that we have been in contact. This is usually called source protection and is enshrined in the constitution — it is also absolutely fundamental for me as a journalist. Without people's trust, it would be completely hopeless for me to do my work.
The only thing you need to do for source protection to apply is to say that you want to be anonymous. When you do, I will handle all communications with you and all notes about you and from conversations in a way that no one will find out that it is you — not my producer, not any friend or colleague, not the police. Not anyone.
But what about in court? I can end up there for two reasons:
- If I reveal who you are (which I will not do), I can face up to a year in prison.
- If a court suspects that you have committed a crime and requests that I reveal whether you are my source (which I will not), I risk up to three months in prison.
No matter what, I will not reveal who you are. In addition, I know enough about how to protect your identity to train other journalists in digital source protection, something I do on behalf of, among others, Fojo Media Institute.
But there is one more important thing. It is not enough for me to protect your identity — you must also protect yourself. If you feel unsure about how to do that, ask me, for example by sending me a secure message here. You can also read Internetstiftelsen's guide: Internetstiftelsen's guide to digital source protection.