A whistleblower system is a secure, digital channel for confidentially reporting violations of the law.

The whistleblower system allows you to report incidents confidentially, usually anonymously, online or by phone. The whistleblower system is independent of the company's IT. It is therefore impossible to trace who the whistleblower is. The data is stored securely in the Open Telekom Cloud. Only those who are authorised to access the system (e.g. those responsible for the whistleblower solution, an external ombudsman or lawyer) have access to the information.

No one else!

With the whistleblower system, employees and external parties (such as customers) can report violations of the law confidentially and anonymously. Whistleblowers can log in via the link on the company website and submit their report using predefined questions or free text. In addition, photos or files can be uploaded.

This is possible without giving a mail address:

The system works like a locker accessible from two sides. After sending a report, the whistleblower assigns a PIN and then receives a numerical code. They have to write both down and use them to log back into the locker later. Authorised recipients of the report (e.g. the management, an external ombudsman or lawyer) can then ask questions.

The system allows you to enter an email address before submitting the report in order to keep up to date on the progress of the report. The system will use the e-mail address to remind you, for example, of chat messages that have been saved for you. The e-mail address entered here is not visible to the responsible agents. However, entering an e-mail address always weakens your anonymity.

The locker can only be accessed again by whistleblowers with the PIN and code - these should therefore be kept in a safe place, as they are only issued once.

Eligible to report are employees of any kind, service providers and other business partners, customers and external consultants (e.g. lawyers and accountants)

The term employees is to be interpreted broadly, so that former employees, temporary workers and applicants are also covered. The same applies to service providers.

Potential or former business partners who are not service providers are also eligible.

I am entitled to report incidents that violate applicable laws or internal rules, including but not limited to corruption, bribery (actively bribing or accepting bribes), conflicts of interest, fraudulent activities, non-compliance with information security/privacy rules, and socially or ethically unacceptable behaviour.

Please report any information that does not constitute a violation of the above categories to the appropriate office, e. g. supervisor, compliance or legal department, human resources department, management, or works council.

It is important that you believe or must assume at the time of reporting that the content is true and that you make the report without improper intent. It may therefore be that the investigation later reveals that no violation has occurred. In this case, you do not have to fear any negative consequences.

Click on "Click here to leave your report." on the homepage and follow the instructions. The process is simple and will take you just under 10 minutes.

Reports can be submitted online in the whistleblower portal at any time.

All languages that the selected company wishes to offer are available in the whistleblower portal. By default, the browser language is used first and afterwards, the language can be selected.

The whistleblower system allows you to report incidents confidentially, anonymously, online or by phone. The whistleblower system is independent of the IT of the company concerned. It is therefore impossible to trace who the whistleblower is. Only a few countries (currently: PL) require contact details to be provided. Here, the system asks for a corresponding entry.

To ensure your anonymity, the encrypted data does not pass through the company's own servers, but through an independent, external server (Open Telekom Cloud in DE). Once you have clicked on "Send report" in the whistleblower system, you remain anonymous unless you decide to disclose your name yourself. Only a few countries (currently: PL) require the disclosure of contact details. Here, the system asks for a corresponding entry.

The system allows you to enter an e-mail address so that you can more easily stay informed about the progress of the report processing. For example, the system will use the email address to remind you of chat messages that are stored for you. The mail address entered here is not visible to the responsible agents. However, entering an e-mail address always weakens your anonymity. Only a few countries (currently: PL) require the entry of contact details. Here, the system requires a corresponding entry elsewhere.

The EU Directive obliges the company to inform the whistleblower about steps taken or planned. According to the EU Directive, a period of 3 months must be observed for the investigation of the case and the subsequent information of the whistleblower. Particularly complex investigations allow this period to be extended to 6 months, depending on the case.

After this period has expired or in the case of ongoing misconduct, whistleblowers may inform the authorities and the public. Details can be found in the company's communication.

All reports are processed by the persons appointed by the company. They decide on the further course of action and contact you via the whistleblower system if there are any queries or additional information is required. Please log in to the whistleblower portal again - with the 16-digit access code and the 4-digit PIN.

Give the company 7 days to respond to your report.

Yes, a download of the whistleblower report is possible at any time.

The download is a pdf document with all components of the whistleblower report: Your answers, the uploaded documents and the chat history.

Reports are only seen by system authorized persons. Who is eligible for the system differs from company to company and also depends on the size of the company - more on this in the company's communication.

It helps the company if you are available for questions or additional information.

To do this, please log in to the whistleblower portal regularly - with the access code and PIN.

If you lose your access code or PIN, these factors cannot be reset or reproduced. To re-register in the whistleblower portal, the only option is to create a new report in which you refer to the previously submitted report.

The following file formats are acceptable for upload: .jpg, .png, .doc, .docx, .pdf, .xls, .xlsx, .csv and .txt.

At each file upload, all metadata is deleted and a uniform, anonymous file name is assigned. Therefore, you do not have to rename any files yourself or delete the metadata yourself.

But in addition, check whether the text or images of the uploaded files show that you have submitted the report. Delete or blacken these places to protect your anonymity!

No, uploaded documents and files cannot be deleted.

The reporting system can be accessed from any internet-enabled input device (mobile phone, tablet, laptop, desktop, etc.).

We recommend accessing the whistleblower system via the following browsers:

Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Apple Safari, Microsoft Edge - an up-to-date version should be used.

In addition, the use of the so-called private or incognito mode is always recommended. This means that reports can be submitted to the whistleblower portal via the browser without this page appearing in the browsing history.

We are happy to answer any questions you may have about the technology and the system. If you wish, we will be happy to deal with your enquiry anonymously. You can reach us at [email protected].

Yes, the whistleblower system automatically terminates any inactive process after 15 min (auto time-out).

Once a report has been sent in the system, this report is immediately transmitted to the person receiving the report. You can then enter your personal PIN (Auto Time-Logout: 60 min). If the system does not recognize a PIN entry, mutual communication via the system is no longer possible!