The tech reporter’s dilemma

[Bloomberg] [Fully Charged]( From [Bloomberg](   [FOLLOW US [Facebook Share]]( [Twitter Share]( [SUBSCRIBE [Subscribe]](  Hey y’all, it’s Austin. As a technology reporter, I think all the time about the digital services I’m using, especially as the power of Big Tech reaches new heights. It’s one of the ironies of covering Silicon Valley: The journalists charged with holding the tech industry accountable are often reliant if not addicted to the very products they’re meant to be scrutinizing, from Microsoft Corp.’s LinkedIn, to Twitter Inc., to Slack Technologies Inc. Given the sourcing sensitivities involved with hard-hitting journalism, how do we reconcile sharing so much data with the companies our reporting so frequently tells us to distrust?  This was the topic du jour last week in Houston, when nearly 2,000 reporters descended on the city for [IRE 2019](, the annual investigative reporting conference, convening Pulitzer winners, aspiring writers and the bulldogs of broadcast and local newspapers. The vibe at the conference could be described as South by Southwest, but with less music and more rumpled J.Crew button-downs. This year, the gathering of journalists was also pervaded by a sense of wariness. There seems to be an ever-increasing threat of lawsuits and leaks, government record seizures, and technology giants and startups possibly prying into online activity. If you’re a reporter pursuing a hazardous investigation into the business practices of, say, Facebook Inc., it can feel risky to rely on the social network and its offshoots (Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp) for source outreach and document gathering. Likewise, if you’re reporting on Uber Technologies Inc., you might not want to take a location-tracked UberX ride to meet a current or former executive of the company. These fears have some historical precedent. Most infamously, [in 2006](, Hewlett-Packard was rocked by a spying scandal involving boardroom leaks to journalists. In 2014, Microsoft [read the Hotmail messages]( of a reporter while tracking down a leak. And Uber [caused a minor furor]( when it was said to have tracked the progress of a tech writer’s ride using a tool called God View. Luckily, there’s a growing crop of confidential digital services available to journalists and other privacy-minded citizens. For encrypted communication, most reporters recommend Signal or Confide. On stage at IRE, Charles Ornstein of ProPublica recommended Alphabet Inc.’s G Suite—but warned against using it for anything top secret. Kristen Kozinski and Neena Kapur of the New York Times say they’ve been exploring using tools such as [Mailvelope]( and [Standard Notes](. I even heard some reporters endorse fax machines for sharing documents with their colleagues instead of email or cloud services. But with faxes—and even techy startup apps—a dearth of mobile and collaborative features mean they’re trickier to use than more convenient consumer programs. All this suggests there are still opportunities for entrepreneurs to exploit an ultra-encrypted-messaging product niche, as privacy increasingly becomes a selling point for more people than just reporters. (Notably, few at IRE talked about Apple Inc. products, despite the company’s [pro-privacy push](.) Until those perfect services materialize though, no tech may be the best way to report on tech. Nicole Casarez, a professor of journalism at the University of St. Thomas, spoke eloquently at IRE about how three-ring binders have enabled her [potent work over the years](. Apps might waver, but binders “always work,” Casarez said. The packed audience of reporters broke out into applause. [—Austin Carr](mailto:acarr54@bloomberg.net)  And here’s what you need to know in global technology news Huawei is bracing for a steep drop in overseas smartphone sales as the Trump administration's moves against the company [hammer one of its most important businesses](.  A handful of Tinder co-founders’ $2 billion lawsuit against IAC and Match over the dating app’s valuation is [moving closer to trial](.  Representative David Cicilline, a Democrat from Rhode Island, will be a [key figure to watch]( as tech's antitrust battles heat up.    You received this message because you are subscribed to the Bloomberg Technology newsletter Fully Charged. You can tell your friends to [sign up here](.  [Unsubscribe]( | [Bloomberg.com]( | [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022