Journalists protecting source material
Practical habits for journalists keeping source photos, documents, and notes safer on a phone, and where a vault app fits.
A source has just sent you photos of documents, or you have photographed something you should not be seen holding. The story can wait a few minutes. What happens to those files in the next hour matters more.
In the first few minutes
- Check where the files landed. Photos you take go to the camera roll and may start syncing to the cloud straight away. Files received in a chat app may be saved to your photos automatically.
- Look at the metadata. Photos can carry location, time and device details that point back to a source. Keep an untouched original if you need it for verification, and share only cleaned copies.
- Think about the conversation itself. Disappearing messages in an end-to-end encrypted app reduce what stays on both phones.
Later that day
Move source material off the camera roll and out of cloud backup, if your organization's policy allows. Then delete the originals from Recently Deleted as well. Ask your security team or editor what tools they expect you to use; many newsrooms have rules for this.
Keep only what you need. The safest file is often the one you no longer have.
Habits for the long run
- Use a long passcode, and turn off message previews on the lock screen.
- Know which apps have access to all your photos.
- Consider a separate device for sensitive work, especially when traveling.
- Keep backups encrypted and in your own hands.
A vault app adds a second lock on the phone itself. VaultWell, coming soon, encrypts photos, files and notes on the device behind their own path, with no account and no cloud copy. Encrypted .vwbackup files stay wherever you put them. That helps against someone picking up an unlocked phone. It does not help against someone who can compel you to open it, or against spyware on the device.
Borders and compelled access
At some borders, officers can ask you to unlock a phone. Hiding something is not the same as being protected from that. Plan ahead with your organization and, where possible, carry less.