Why should I submit a report?
Your company or administration receives reports to establish a positive culture based on ethical values. This includes compliance both with laws and guidelines.
Perhaps you have knowledge of harmful behaviour patterns that put your organisation at risk. But perhaps you shy away from passing on this information personally.
We want to effectively protect you as a whistleblower and are providing you with a communications platform secured by the latest technology for submitting reports with your name or anonymously. If you wish, you will remain completely anonymous! Nevertheless, you can actively participate in clarification by setting up an anonymous postbox.
Every individual shares the responsibility for protecting a company or administration against damage.
What cases can be reported?
You can report criminal offences and violations related to ethical misconduct (e.g., of the Code of Conduct), to protect your company or administration against, for example, economic loss and damage to the reputation.
You will receive detailed information on possible topics for a report during the whistleblowing process.
How do I submit a report? How do I set up a postbox?
Companies and administrations which apply the BKMS® System link the whistleblowing process on their homepage.
First you reach an information page on which you can read all relevant information concerning your report. The whistleblowing process consists of 4 steps:
First you are asked to read information on protecting your anonymity and to respond to a confirmation prompt.
On the next page you are asked for the topic of your report.
On the reporting page, phrase your information in your own words and select answers to questions about the case. You may use up to 4,096 characters in the free-text field, which corresponds to a full DIN A4 page. You may also attach small files up to 2 MB to support your report. Keep in mind that electronic documents may contain information about the author. After you sent your report, you will receive a document number as proof that you have sent this information to your organisation.
Set up your own, anonymous postbox. You will receive feedback from your organisation, answer questions and be notified about the progress of your report via this postbox.
If you have already set up an anonymous postbox, you can reach it directly via the “Login” button on the information page. Here as well, you must first respond to the confirmation prompt.
How do I receive feedback and still remain anonymous?
Via your anonymous postbox, an examiner of the affected organisation will provide you with feedback about what is happening with your report or will ask questions if any details are still unclear. You will remain completely anonymous during the dialogue as well.
When you set up your anonymous postbox, you select a pseudonym and password yourself. Your report is kept anonymous through encryption and other special security routines. You will never be asked for your personal information during the whistleblowing process. As long as you yourself do not input any data that allows conclusions to be drawn about your identity, the BKMS® System protects your anonymity through the latest technological processes.
You can additionally protect your anonymity by using a public PC (e.g., at an internet café).