# CoverDrop: Blowing the Whistle Through a News App

**URL:** https://discuss.privacyguides.net/t/coverdrop-blowing-the-whistle-through-a-news-app/28573
**Category:** News
**Tags:** website
**Created:** 2025-06-23T23:01:58Z
**Posts:** 1

## Post 1 by @anonfox — 2025-06-23T23:01:58Z

> **[CoverDrop: Blowing the Whistle Through A News App](https://www.coverdrop.org/)**

Whitepaper: [https://www.coverdrop.org/coverdrop\_guardian\_implementation\_june\_2025.pdf](https://www.coverdrop.org/coverdrop_guardian_implementation_june_2025.pdf)

Source code: [GitHub - guardian/coverdrop: Blowing the whistle through a news app](https://github.com/guardian/coverdrop)

A team at the University of Cambridge and The Guardian developed CoverDrop: a secure, anonymous, and usable method of establishing initial contact between journalists and sources embedded in a set of extensions to a typical news app.

### Confidential

All messages between sources and journalists are end-to-end encrypted.

### Ease-of-use

Included in the news reader app for every user: no technical wizardry needed.

### Anonymous

Real messages hide among the cover traffic sent by all app users: CoverDrop protects metadata.

### Plausible deniability

Sources can plausibly deny that they have used CoverDrop: even when asked to unlock the device.

### Real world

The Guardian deployed CoverDrop to millions of news reader installations in 2025.

### Research project

CoverDrop started as an academic project and remains an active research area at the University of Cambridge.