History and credits
Project history
The web application, which was originally called DeadDrop, was developed by Aaron Swartz in 2011 before his tragic death. The hardening guide and security environment was architected by James Dolan. Investigative journalist Kevin Poulsen originally managed the project. The New Yorker launched the first implementation and branded their version StrongBox in May 2013.
In October 2013, Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) took over management and development of the open source project and renamed it SecureDrop. In the project’s early years at FPF, development was driven by James Dolan and Garrett Robinson. Today, SecureDrop is maintained by a small full-time development team at FPF and a growing volunteer community.
Technology & contributions
SecureDrop and SecureDrop Workstation are open source projects of Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF). You can support our work by contributing to SecureDrop and by making a donation.
Our work would not be possible without the larger open source community. Below are some of the key projects that make SecureDrop possible, and which we encourage you to support.
- Tor
Provides the foundation for the anonymizing network that allows Sources, Journalists, and Administrators to maintain their privacy while connecting to SecureDrop.
- Qubes OS
The backbone of SecureDrop Workstation. FPF has directly sponsored Qubes OS development; consider donating to Qubes OS.
- Weblate
Enables our volunteer community to translate SecureDrop into many languages. You can donate to support Weblate development.
- Localization Lab
Supports the translation of SecureDrop into many languages. Consider donating to their work.
- Python
A significant amount of SecureDrop is written in the Python programming language. You can support it by donating to the Python Software Foundation.
- Debian and Fedora
Power SecureDrop Workstation VMs; both rely on volunteer contributions and financial support.
- GNOME
Acts as an umbrella for many of the individual software components we rely on.
SecureDrop also depends on many other open source projects, including Ubuntu Server, grsecurity, GnuPG, Sequoia, LibreOffice, Audacious, OpenPrinting, Apache, OSSEC, and others. Please consider directing time and financial support wherever it can make a positive difference.