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SUMMARY:From research lab to newsroom: deploying secure whistleblower tech
 nology in practice - Dr Daniel Hugenroth and Professor Alastair Beresford 
 - Department of Computer Science and Technology\, University of Cambridge
DTSTART:20251112T150500Z
DTEND:20251112T155500Z
UID:TALK237220@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Ben Karniely
DESCRIPTION:In a functioning democracy\, a free press plays a vital role i
 n holding powerful institutions to account. But for journalism to thrive\,
  citizens must be able to contact reporters securely—especially when rev
 ealing sensitive or controversial information. This is particularly challe
 nging in an era of pervasive surveillance\, where even the act of communic
 ation can raise suspicion.\n\nThis talk presents CoverDrop\, a secure comm
 unication system now deployed in The Guardian’s news app\, designed to h
 elp whistleblowers reach journalists without revealing their identity. Unl
 ike traditional secure messaging tools\, CoverDrop hides not just the cont
 ent of messages\, but the very existence of communication. It achieves thi
 s by sending regular\, encrypted\, fixed-size blocks of data to a central 
 server and then on to journalists —whether or not a real message is pres
 ent. This strategy ensures that observers\, including network operators or
  state-level adversaries\, cannot distinguish between genuine and dummy tr
 affic.\n\nWe’ll walk through the full five-year journey from research to
  real-world deployment. Starting with workshops with journalists to unders
 tand their needs\, we’ll share insights from user studies that shaped th
 e design—some of which challenged conventional assumptions. We’ll expl
 ore the technical hurdles of implementing metadata privacy on modern smart
 phones\, and the protocol design choices needed to support plausible denia
 bility and high-latency communication. Finally\, we’ll discuss the engin
 eering work required to integrate CoverDrop into a production news app use
 d by millions—highlighting lessons learned that go beyond academic proto
 types.\n\nThis talk is a case study in how cryptography\, usability\, and 
 systems engineering can come together to support press freedom in practice
 .\n\n\nLink to join virtually: https://cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/89473073451\n\n
 A recording of this talk is available at the following link: https://www.c
 l.cam.ac.uk/seminars/wednesday/video/\n\nThis talk is being recorded. If y
 ou do not wish to be seen in the recording\, please avoid sitting in the f
 ront three rows of seats in the lecture theatre. Any questions asked will 
 also be included in the recording. The recording will be made available on
  the Department’s webpage
LOCATION:Lecture Theatre 1\, Computer Laboratory\, William Gates Building
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