Speak up.
Stay yourself.
Public Guards is built around a simple promise: the people who notice something shouldn't have to trade their identity for a chance to help. Here is how that promise is wired into the product, in plain language.
You don't need an account. You don't need to give your name. Your tip goes only to the agency that covers where it happened. A PIN you choose, which we never see in plain text, is the key to check back. We tell you what we can and can't protect, and we never sell your data.
Effective June 5, 2026
In an emergency, call 911. Public Guards is for non-emergency tips and follow-up information, not a substitute for emergency services.
Four principles
Confidentiality is a design choice, not a slogan.
Every interaction with Public Guards is shaped by these. If a feature can't honor them, we don't ship it.
Identity is optional, end-to-end
Name, phone, and email are never required to submit. If you leave a field blank, it isn't collected, isn't inferred, and isn't stored elsewhere.
Encrypted in transit and at rest
Submissions travel over TLS and are encrypted on our servers. Attachments are stored in access-controlled object storage, not on a public bucket.
Scoped to one agency
A tip is routed to the agency with jurisdiction over the place you select. No other agency can see it, search it, or be alerted to it.
Your PIN, hashed
Your tracking PIN is hashed with scrypt and a per-tip salt before it touches the database. We can't read it. We can't reset it. Only you can use it.
What we collect
Only what your tip needs
What you write
The narrative, place, date, and any optional fields you fill in (vehicles, files, suspects).
Optional contact info
Name, phone, and email, only if you choose to provide them so the agency can follow up.
Your PIN (hashed)
Stored as a scrypt hash with a unique salt. We cannot recover the original.
Reference number
A random identifier we generate so you can come back and check on your tip.
Messages with the agency
Two-way messages exchanged through Track, visible only to you (via PIN) and the assigned staff.
What we don't collect
Things we go out of our way to avoid
- Account, login, or password. You don't make one to submit a tip.
- Government IDs, social security numbers, or date of birth
- Persistent advertising or cross-site tracking cookies
- Location data beyond the jurisdiction you choose
- Social media handles or contact lists
Standard server logs (IP address, user agent) are kept short-term for abuse prevention and never shown alongside your tip in the agency portal.
Who can see your tip
A short, honest list.
Three groups, and only three. Every access is recorded in an audit log that staff can't edit.
The receiving agency
Staff at the agency with jurisdiction, scoped by role. A dispatcher sees what a dispatcher needs; a detective sees what's assigned to them.
Public Guards operations
A small, audited set of Public Guards engineers and support staff for the limited purpose of keeping the platform running and responding to abuse.
Courts, when legally required
We comply with valid subpoenas, court orders, and search warrants. We do not volunteer your data, and we do not sell it to anyone, ever.
Your rights
The control stays with you.
A tip isn't an account, but you still have a say in what happens with it. If you provided contact details and want them removed, or you want a tip withdrawn, reach out and we'll work through it with the receiving agency.
See what's been said
Use your reference number and PIN on the Track page to view the status and any messages from the agency.
Stay anonymous
If you didn't share contact info, there's nothing tying the tip back to you in our system.
Reasonable retention
Tips are kept while the agency is actively working them and for a limited period after, consistent with records policies.
Lawful process only
We share data with courts and government only when required by valid legal process, never as a courtesy.
What we won't pretend
The limits, said out loud.
No system is perfectly anonymous. Details you write into the narrative, like names, addresses, or your relationship to the people involved, can identify you even when the form fields don't. If you'd rather not be known, keep personal details out of the story too.
PINs that are lost can't be reset. We hash your PIN so even we can't read it. If you lose both your reference number and your PIN, the agency can still act on your tip, but you won't be able to check status or exchange messages anymore.
Knowingly false tips can be a crime. Submitting a report you know to be false, misleading, or intended to harass someone may carry criminal and civil consequences. Only submit information you believe to be true.
We comply with valid legal process. Subpoenas, court orders, and search warrants are real. If we're legally required to produce records, including contact info, technical metadata, or message contents we hold, and we will, to the extent the law requires.
Important: Who we are
Public Guards is a service of Public Guards LLC, an independent, privately-operated technology platform. We are not a law enforcement agency, government entity, or part of Crime Stoppers, and we are not affiliated with any such organization. We may partner with law enforcement agencies and Crime Stoppers programs solely to route submitted tips to the appropriate recipient. Submitting a tip through Public Guards does not constitute contacting law enforcement.
About this notice
The Public Guards platform is operated by Public Guards LLC, an independent, privately-operated technology company. Public Guards LLC is not a law enforcement agency, government entity, or part of Crime Stoppers, and is not affiliated with any such organization. Questions about this privacy notice or our practices can be sent through our contact page.
Confidential by default. Helpful by design.
You don't have to be sure. You just have to say something. We'll handle the rest the way we said we would.