As Anonymous Tip Lines Become Common, Cybersecurity Is Key

Governments are taking a fresh approach at combating niche problems in their community, from human trafficking to school violence, illegal drug activity on tribal lands and even wildlife poachingby creating anonymous digital tip lines focused on those core issues, providing an outlet for the modern version of “see something, say something.”

While the technology is producing results with countless arrests, it’s also presenting new cybersecurity risks, highlighting the need for secure solutions.

Community engagement platform tip411 first launched in 2009 as an Internet-based tool that allowed the public to message an anonymous tip to police, making it possible for the officers to respond back, creating a two-way anonymous “chat.”
“In the environment we’ve created for both the tipster and the investigator, it’s more casual because you don’t get the emotion in these things,” said tip411 President and CEO Terry Halsch in an interview with Government Technology. "We’ve seen around the country where these conversations result in real trust and transparency between the community members and cops, and it’s just an awesome thing to happen.”

Over the years, the service has evolved to include features such as dedicated apps, text and email tipping and the ability to attach photos or videos. These tips are archived in a dashboard, allowing the agency to access them at any time and share them with neighboring agencies if needed. They work with law enforcement departments ranging in size from just six sworn officers to over 6,000.

Rather than the tipster and receiver directly connecting, tip411 uses proprietary tech to ensure the tipster's identity stays anonymous, as each inbound tip is assigned a randomly generated code, and pictures and video are scrubbed of metadata.

While 76 percent of tip411’s customers are local law enforcement, the technology is also being adopted by several mission-specific organizations, both public and private. Notably, schools represent the second most common type of organization using tip411 technology to prevent bullying and increase school safety. For example, Boone Township School Corporation in Indiana reported a surge in tips after launching a tip line students could access on their school computers, with 58 tips received by early November compared to 38 in the entire previous year.
A study performed in Miami by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) found that students at schools with an anonymous reporting system experienced 13.5 percent fewer violent incidents than students at schools without it.

The technology has also attracted mission-driven initiatives such as combating human trafficking. Earlier this year, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost launched a new statewide Human Trafficking Hotline, emphasizing the need for public vigilance.

“Human trafficking thrives in the shadows, but we cannot allow it to stay hidden,” Yost said. “We need every Ohioan to be our eyes and ears — because one tip can save a life, one tip can help us free someone who desperately needs our help.”

The features making tip411 technology effective for human trafficking victims, such as discreet communication and location sharing, may be equally beneficial for those in dangerous domestic violence situations.

“Domestic abuse continues to be a growing market for us because you can be behind a bathroom door texting,” said Halsch. “You can give a location of where you’re at in case you don’t know where you’re being held, those types of things are a real advantage for domestic abuse organizations across America to be able to use our solution.”

However, the valuable data being sent through these anonymous tip lines has also become a target for bad actors. In the wrong hands, this data could be de-anonymized, used for intelligence gathering, cause disruption or be held for ransom.

Halsch explained that although protecting personally identifiable information was always important, tip411 proactively moved their hosting infrastructure to an Amazon Web Services (AWS) FedRAMP Moderate environment, stating it “does a much better job at securing the solution inside.”

He noted that this move directly addressed the evolving threat landscape, illustrated by an anecdote where their security director reported up to 3,000 attempted connections or interactions with their servers or network every hour, a constant barrage of potentially harmful or unauthorized activity.

"Due to the increasing risk of cyber attacks, we have taken additional steps to safeguard our customers’ data," said Halsch. "tip411 is now FedRAMP compliant, which means that our AWS cloud service meets the federal government’s standards for security, authorization and continuous monitoring. Helping our customers is our top priority, and this is just one of the many actions we have taken to do so.”

Halsch explained that as technology continues to evolve, solutions like tip411 hold even greater potential. They recently launched a new AI tool for some of their partners and are exploring future integrations with other customer solutions, including the potential of harnessing the power of GIS mapping tools in conjunction with the tip lines, suggesting a future where even more targeted and efficient anonymous data could empower governments to address specific community challenges.