Village of Saranac Lake staff: The mayor wants to track your media contact. Here is how to share tips with Tri-Lakes Town Square safely and anonymously.
The mayor just told your coworkers to report to management when a journalist calls. Who called. What they wanted. Whether the interview would be in person or on the phone.
We want to be direct with you about what that means for talking to us — and what it doesn't mean.
We can't identify you.
If you file a report on this site, you don't give us your name. You don't give us your email. You don't give us anything that connects you to what you submitted. The form doesn't ask. The server doesn't log your IP address. There is no record that you visited this page, read this story, or submitted anything.
Your boss cannot find out you talked to us. Not from us.
The engineering behind that promise.
This isn't just a policy written by a lawyer. It's how the site was built:
No IP logging. Our server is configured to collect no access logs. Your connection leaves no trace.
No cookies unless you create an account. If you're just reading or filing a tip anonymously, nothing is stored in your browser.
No third-party trackers. No Google Analytics. No Facebook scripts. Nothing watching where you came from.
Anonymous tips by design. The report form was built to accept information without requiring identity. That was a deliberate choice made at the start.
Shield law protection.
We publish under New York Civil Rights Law §79-h. That law gives us the right to refuse to identify sources — even under a court order or subpoena. It's not a preference. It's a legal protection we can invoke.
If someone tries to find out who talked to us, the law is on our side.
What you can tell us.
Anything you think the public should know about how the village is being run. Budget decisions. Staffing. Projects. Policies. Things that aren't getting reported. Things that should be.
You know more about what's actually happening inside village government than anyone outside it. That information belongs to the community you serve.
How to reach us.
File a report at trilakestownsquare.com — anonymously, any time. Or email editors@trilakestownsquare.com if you want to have a conversation first.
Your name or anonymous. Your choice. Always.