The case for a technically safe environment to protect the identities of anonymous whistle-blowers : a conceptual paper

Abstract

Whistle-blowing is one of the most important aspects in the fight against corruption. In most cases, it is impossible to commit a corrupt deed without at least one other person being involved in, or, knowing about it. Many businesses and public entities have a ‘crime lines’ in place to facilitate whistle-blowing but these facilities are mostly limited to a particular telephone number. Using a telephone to report corruption has inherent problems when anonymity is required. Organisations can easily trace calls made from their facilities. Even calls made from cellular phones can be traced. Eavesdropping, although illegal, is not technically difficult to achieve. The fact is: Telephonic whistle-blowing provides little protection for the whistle-blower who wants to remain anonymous. This paper focuses on the problem of current ways for whistle-blowing and suggests an improvement conceptually. It aims to open up debate and discussion on this topic with the intention to attract further contributions and stimulate research on this topic. Although the paper focuses strongly on the situation in South Africa, it is probably equally applicable anywhere else in the world.