Sending information and evidence safely
Documents and correspondence can help the site verify residents' experiences and identify wider patterns. However, complaint records, service charge documents and legal papers often contain personal or confidential information.
Email is not a completely secure method of communication. If material is particularly sensitive, could identify you or another person, or could put anyone at risk if disclosed, please send a brief description first without attaching the documents. An appropriate method of reviewing or transferring the material can then be discussed.
Before sending evidence
Please consider the following:
- Send only material that is relevant to the issue being raised.
- Keep an unchanged copy of the original document or message.
- Where possible, send a redacted copy initially and retain the original for possible verification.
- Remove unnecessary names, private email addresses, telephone numbers, signatures, exact flat numbers, account details, complaint references, financial information and information about children.
- Do not assume that placing a black box over text has removed it. Redacted text may remain searchable or recoverable from the document. If you are unsure how to redact a file safely, contact the site before sending it.
- Check filenames, document properties, comments, tracked changes and other metadata, which may reveal information not visible on the page.
- Explain where the material came from, when it was created or received, and what point you believe it supports.
- Identify anything that has been cropped, annotated, reformatted or otherwise altered.
- Tell the site if the material is subject to a court or tribunal restriction, legal professional privilege, a confidentiality obligation, copyright restrictions or any other known limitation on its use.
- Do not send passwords, identity documents, bank details, medical records or similarly sensitive information unless the editor has confirmed that it is necessary.
- Do not send documents obtained through hacking, impersonation, unauthorised account access or another unlawful method.
Anonymity and publication
If you want your identity withheld from publication, say so in your first message. The editor may still need to know who you are in order to assess and verify the information, but your identity will not ordinarily be published without agreement.
Please also state whether:
- you may be named as the source;
- the information may be quoted;
- a redacted extract may be published; or
- the material is being supplied for background or verification only.
These preferences will be taken seriously, but supplying a document does not necessarily give either the sender or the site the legal right to reproduce it. Publication decisions must also take account of privacy, copyright, court restrictions and the rights of other people.
What happens after submission
Submitting information does not guarantee that it will be used or published. Material may be checked against other evidence, summarised, redacted or used to inform further enquiries. Where appropriate, the person or organisation concerned may be approached for comment without disclosing the identity of a confidential source.
Documents are not published automatically or without editorial review. Material relied upon for reporting may be retained so that the accuracy of the reporting can later be demonstrated or assessed. Further information is available in the editorial policy and privacy notice.
Where to send it
Write to PBCAEditor@gmail.com. See also corrections and right of reply if you are responding to something already published.