TruthWave – A platform for corporate whistleblowers
35 comments
·October 30, 2025lschueller
In case of whistleblowing, it really makes much more sense to contact a news outlet or investigative journalist. Using some kind of agency or random-website-service will legally fire back in almost all cases. Inv. Journalists are the best go to point as they known how to deal with sensitive material without burning the whistleblower
mind-blight
So their team is anonymous. While I understand the desire for that, trust is built through transparency. It's really hard to convince someone who's job, career, it potentially even life is at risk to trust random strangers on the Internet.
It seems like they need people willing to stretch their name to create credibility.
ramon156
Have we forgotten you can authorize witho authenticating? I can prove I'm inside the Google office without saying who I am
dessimus
The point is that how does the whistleblower know whether or not they are not whistleblowing to the very people or allies to those being reported on if who is behind it?
To pull an example out of thin air, would you risk whistleblowing to TruthWave on Amazon if you knew that the Washington Post was running TruthWave?
tptacek
I would trust the Washington Post with a sensitive tip more than I would trust an Internet project.
embedding-shape
Wrong direction, parent is asking for clarity who owns and operate the platform itself, not clarity around who the whistleblower is.
dns_snek
Does that prove much? I have been inside a Google office without ever having worked for Google (visitor).
GuinansEyebrows
took me all of 2 minutes to put a name to one of the folks involved in the project.
i think this is a good goal but i question the platform, based on this point.
6r17
We all know how this ends lmao
1oooqooq
[flagged]
_false
I'm curious what subset of whistleblowing are they looking for:
> National Security Disclaimer We do not accept any tips or material of any kind related to matters of national security.
> Legal Violations Disclaimer Do not send any information or material that violates or breaches any contracts or legal obligations.
antoniojtorres
This website looks like they’re gonna tell me I can use Zapier to get whistleblowing alerts in Slack. Truly bizarre presentation.
null
flakiness
Newspapers' tip line has a similar feature. I wonder what make a whistle-blower pick this over other traditional media (besides you're working at one of these.)
eg. https://www.nytimes.com/tips, https://www.washingtonpost.com/anonymous-news-tips/
rahimnathwani
Whistleblower platforms are usually meant for employees (e.g. lower down the org) to anonymously report things to someone within the company.
neilv
My first thought on the headline was, "Startup techbros, if that's what it is, are about the last people you should trust, when the problem is corporate misbehavior," but I held my snap reaction tongue, and went to look:
> Our founders, who remain anonymous, following in the footsteps of some of our nation’s most impactful justice efforts, understand the inherent challenges faced by those seeking justice on an imbalanced playing field.
OK, seriously, who do they expect to trust them?
Actual prospective whistleblowers, or someone else?
> Once Tips are validated and determined to have a likely positive impact on justice, our whistleblowers receive their initial compensation. Then, based on the ultimate justice achieved, our whistleblowers are compensated again. [...] Earn Big Rewards - Tippers can earn rewards of $1,000,000 or more.
Maybe they only need opportunists and scammers to trust them?
And donors/investors? And corporations with a problem-goes-away cost-of-business budget?
neilv
Trust is key, if you want legitimate whistleblowers.
Anecdote behind thinking a bit about this... I was discussing cofounding a startup that incidentally overlapped a bit with this space. One of the very top concerns was that we needed to be seen as trustworthy, to both employers and workers, and that trust would be a significant part of the value that we brought.
Then my prospective cofounder (a real straight-shooter) pointed out that one possible side effect of that trust (if we achieved it), was that workers might come to us with information about a company that we'd be obligated to report to gov't authorities, against the expectations of the worker. It was one of the many things we'd need to be very clear about, in course of earning and honoring the trust that enabled the good stuff we could do.
nerdponx
Looks like a honeypot to me.
davsti4
They could be NK hackers using the service to target their next corporate ransom victim.
throwaway7783
Or corporate espionage
cosmicgadget
This looks like Robinhood for whistleblowing.
zzixp
One of my favorite darknet diaries episodes is about corporate whistleblowing, it's a huge business. If you get a massive 1M+ payout, chances are the company is getting just as much (if not more).
srameshc
Trying to understand who you are but not a single name listed in there ? https://www.truthwave.com/about-us https://www.truthwave.com/our-team
Mission is good, but how do you protect those people who disclose information to you ?
dns_snek
They seem to be more committed to protecting the viability of all future business decisions than anyone's anonymity:
> We may share your data with third parties under the following circumstances:
> During a Change in Control: If Truthwave undergoes a business transaction like a merger, acquisition, corporate divestiture, or dissolution (including bankruptcy), or a sale of all or some of its assets, we will take appropriate measures to continue to protect your anonymity and identity, but may need to share, disclose, or transfer all of your data to the successor organization during such transition or in contemplation of a transition (including during due diligence). (All data categories)
aborsy
Useful service in my opinion. There are tons of people who would want to expose their employer.
But the team must be known, and the company should be transparent.
Wait, is there any way to get this information onto a privacy-based blockchain like Oasis? Someone would own a Tip - perhaps they could be compensated for it and Tips aren't made public by default?
The more you write, the more you can read from others, perhaps? Decentralization would ensure uptime. GlassDoor already has some revealing company reviews.