What is the difference between anonymity and confidentiality?

At Crimestoppers and Fearless our service for young people, our core reporting services on 0800 555 111, our website and Fearless.org guarantee anonymity not confidentiality. 

Everyone who calls our UK Contact Centre or uses our website’s main reporting form or our Fearless form stays 100% anonymous. Always.
 
Anonymity means that someone is unidentifiable, untraceable and unreachable. Even details such as gender, location or relationship to the person breaking the law are deliberately not recorded on our systems or passed to the police.
 
If the person giving information stayed confidential, then that would mean taking personal details (name, address, contact details), which would reveal their identity.
 
If it wasn’t for our anonymity promise, hundreds of thousands of people who contact us every year might otherwise stay silent. That means vital information may never be offered to help law enforcement catch criminals and protect the vulnerable.

Find out more about our anonymity guarantee. 

4 November 2024