Privacy approach
Public Guards is designed around one principle: tipsters should control how much they share with law enforcement.
Important: Who we are
Public Guards is 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.
In an emergency, call 911. Public Guards is not a substitute for emergency services.
Truly Anonymous submissions
Anonymous tips are intended to be delivered to the receiving agency without identifying information. The intake layer is built so that IP addresses, user-agent strings, browser fingerprints, and other request metadata are not persisted alongside the tip.
In production deployments this layer can be hosted in a separate jurisdiction (for example, Canada) to provide an additional privacy boundary between the tipster and the receiving U.S. agency.
Confidential submissions
Confidential tips include the contact information you choose to share. This information is visible only to authorized agency users with the appropriate permissions and is used solely to follow up on your tip.
What we do not collect for anonymous tips
- Your IP address
- Browser or device fingerprints
- Request headers or referrer information
- Any name, phone number, or email address
What we don't promise
No system can guarantee absolute anonymity. Avoid placing personally identifying details into the tip narrative if you wish to remain anonymous. Public Guards is designed to protect your identity but is not a substitute for legal advice.