Set out below are some brief answers to frequently answered questions:

Can tip-off information be subpoenaed? Unlike confidential information from doctors, lawyers and journalists that can be subpoenaed, we don’t believe that any legal basis exists for the information, which we gather and store, to be subpoenaed.   Additional support for this view comes from the Constitution and the provisions of the Protected Disclosures Act 26 of 2000. Protecting the anonymity of the caller and the confidentiality of the information lies at the very heart of our service and we have a fundamental interest in protecting the identity of anyone making contact with us.

Can clients listen to or read information received by the contact centre?
Absolutely not!  This would obviously discourage callers from using the hotline and undermine the anonymity of our service.  Clients can, however, call the contact centre manager and request that the call be listened to again to ensure that any specific questions are answered, but at all times respecting the anonymity wishes of the caller.

What about hoax, malicious and slanderous calls?
Unfortunately these are a reality and occur in all inbound contact centres and particularly where access to the service is free to the caller.  The incidence of these calls is reduced because each subscribing organisation has a unique 0800 FreeCall number that is not advertised to the general public.

Many clients have requested that our contact centre operators filter out calls which do not contain a substantive allegation nor contain any meaningful evidence.  This information will not be sent through to clients but will be stored by us should it be required at a later date to corroborate a trend or other information that may be received subsequently.

How do we know that the contact centre personnel will respect the confidentiality of the information that they are exposed to?
Our personnel are very carefully selected and undergo intensive background checking before they commence work in the contact centre.  Contact centre agents also subject themselves to ongoing truth verification testing and lifestyle audits at the discretion of the contact centre manager to ensure that we can identify, at an early stage, the likelihood of any personnel becoming victims of blackmail, becoming involved in any inappropriate or criminal activity or whose integrity becomes impaired.

Can the contact centre trace calls to the sender?
No! The contact centre does not make use of caller line identification technology.

There is obviously a risk that the identity of callers can be established by their organisations as a result of telephone, fax and e-mail tracking activities within their work environment. 

View guidelines on how to make a tip-off as well as on ways to remain anonymous 

Who has access to the information reported to the contact centre?
Tip-off reports are sent only to designated client personnel nominated by our clients and specifically included in our service agreement with them. Typically, these are persons who are in senior operational, financial or risk management positions. Further, in the event that these senior persons are implicated in tip-off reports, our service agreement requires the name of an independent person or persons, who ideally, are not involved in the day-to-day operations of your organisation – such as the audit committee chairman or a non-executive director.   

Under no circumstances will we forward any tip-off information to any other person within or outside your organisation, who is not specifically named in the agreement, without the prior written consent of our client.

Does Tip-offs Anonymous get involved in following up or investigating tip-offs?
The core business of Tip-offs Anonymous is the provision of a professional and anonymous hotline service. The investigation and follow-up of tip-off reports is the responsibility of our client. Tip-offs Anonymous does not get involved in any follow up action and will not provide any advice in this regard.

Does Tip-offs Anonymous pay rewards for information?
The payment of rewards is entirely at the discretion of our clients. Tip-offs Anonymous has a mechanism to pay rewards on behalf of our clients so that recipients can feel free to divulge information whilst continuing to remain totally anonymous.

The introduction of a reward scheme requires careful thought and planning, including an assessment of the impact it could have on the behaviour of individuals and on the culture of an organisation.

Tip-offs Anonymous has developed detailed guidelines for introducing and managing reward schemes, which you can review by clicking here.