Whistleblower hotline · Ethics case management
The ethics hotline people trust enough to use.
Autessa Ethics Hotline is an anonymous whistleblower hotline with ethics case management built in. Your people report concerns on a private speak-up site, anonymously or confidentially, and follow up with a case code and passphrase. Your ethics committee investigates in its own workspace, messages the reporter, records the outcome and keeps an access log nobody can edit. It works out of the box, and you shape the wording, committee, notifications and retention to fit your company, all inside Autessa.
No IP addresses recorded · reports reach only your named committee · set up in minutes
In one paragraph
What is a whistleblower hotline, and what does Autessa’s do?
A whistleblower hotline (also called an ethics hotline, compliance hotline or speak-up line) is a confidential channel where employees and others can report misconduct, often anonymously, without going through their manager. Autessa Ethics Hotline is a web-based whistleblower hotline and anonymous reporting tool, joined to a case management workspace for the people who investigate. It covers anonymous reporting, anonymous two-way follow-up, ethics case management, an independent committee with conflict-free routing, an append-only audit trail, hotline metrics and retention.
What makes it different
Built around the reporter’s safety, not the vendor’s form
Every hotline takes reports. These are the parts that decide whether people actually use it, and whether you can prove it works.
Case code and passphrase
Each report gets a case code and a passphrase that only the reporter holds: the passphrase is suggested in their own browser, never put in a URL or storage, and kept by the hotline only as a hash.
How it works →Independent ethics committee
Hotline reports reach only the people named on the ethics committee, not HR roles or company admins, and the workspace warns until two members are active so no report has a single gatekeeper.
How it works →Leave out committee members
Reporters can keep any committee member from seeing their report: that person cannot open it, is never told about it, cannot be assigned it, and gets the same “not found” as a case that does not exist.
How it works →Anonymity protections
The hotline never records a reporter’s IP address or device details, keeps passphrases out of URLs and storage, sends emails with no report details and encrypts reports at rest.
How it works →Hotline test
The hotline test files a marked test report through the same path as a real one, emails the committee a [TEST] notice and hands you a code and passphrase to check and reply as a reporter would.
How it works →Leave out committee members
When the concern is about someone on the committee
- Enforced on the server, not just hidden
- Remaining members are told who was left out
- At least one member always receives the report
Hotline test
Prove the hotline works, end to end, in one click
- Kept out of metrics and exports
- Logged as evidence
- Run it after every committee change
One product, two sides
For your people, and for your ethics committee
The public hotline and the committee workspace are one product. Each side sees exactly its half of every case.
For your people
A speak-up page, a four-step anonymous report form, a case code and passphrase, and a Check a report page with status and private two-way messages. No account, no sign-in, no IP address recorded.
For your ethics committee
A private workspace with a case inbox, a confirmed state flow, assignment, internal notes, outcomes, an access log, metrics, a CSV export, a hotline test and one page of settings.
Product tour
Every screen, both sides
The whole product, from the page your people see to the workspace your committee works in.
Your people · Speak-up page
A front door that says “it’s safe” before anything else
- No sign-in, no account
- Emergency note under the buttons
- Your own wording, or calm standard text
Your people · Report form
A few calm steps, and nothing is sent until the last one
- Only two required fields
- Warns before closing with unsent text
- Errors jump to the field that needs attention
Your people · Who can see it
Choose anonymous or confidential, and who to leave out
- Anonymous recommended
- Leave out anyone the report involves
- At least one member always receives it
Your people · Report sent
A case code and passphrase only the reporter holds
- Five-word passphrase, or their own
- Never in a URL, storage or a log
- Can’t be recovered, by design
Your people · Check a report
Come back any time to see the status and answer questions
- Reporter-friendly status labels
- Committee messages signed “Ethics committee”
- Done clears everything on a shared computer
Your committee · Cases
One inbox for every report you’re allowed to see
- Open and new-message counts
- Hotline tests hidden unless you ask
- Excluded cases never appear
Your committee · Case
A case page with the whole story, and nothing a reporter shouldn’t see
- Every move says what the reporter will see
- Notes the reporter never sees
- A recorded resolution on every case
Your committee · Metrics
Numbers for the board, and a one-click hotline test
- Tests excluded unless included
- CSV without report text
- [TEST] emails end to end
Your committee · Access log
Every look and every change, in a log nobody can edit
- Case opens logged, not just edits
- Committee changes emailed too
- Filtered for excluded members
Your committee · Settings
One page of settings, no tabs
- Warns until two members are active
- Retention from 1 to 25 years
- Test mode for emails
How it works
How does a report move through Autessa Ethics Hotline?
- 1
Someone speaks up
On the hotline, anonymously or confidentially, in four steps. They get a case code and passphrase.
- 2
The committee is told
Members who can see the report get an email with no details. It lands in Cases as New.
- 3
Triage and assign
A member starts triage and assigns an owner. The reporter sees “Being reviewed”.
- 4
Investigate and ask
Interviews and records go in internal notes; questions go to the reporter through the hotline.
- 5
Resolve and record
Choose a resolution, write the summary, close the case. Retention starts.
- 6
Prove it worked
Metrics, the CSV export, the access log and a hotline test are your evidence.
Everything inside
Every capability, area by area
Anonymous reporting, follow-up, case management, independence, evidence and administration, all in one product.
Compliance programs
Helps you meet requirements for SOC 2, SOX and the EU Whistleblowing Directive
Ethics Hotline gives you the reporting channel, access controls and records these programs ask for, so your policies have a channel that works.
| Program | What it typically asks for | How Ethics Hotline helps |
|---|---|---|
| SOC 2 | Auditors commonly look for a confidential channel to report concerns and evidence that it is handled. | Anonymous channel, named committee, append-only access log, metrics, content-free export and a logged hotline test. |
| SOX (Section 301) | Audit committees need procedures for confidential, anonymous submission of accounting and auditing concerns, and for their receipt, retention and treatment. | A “Fraud, accounting or auditing” category, anonymous reports, a committee you name (it can include audit committee members), retention settings and recorded outcomes. |
| EU Whistleblowing Directive | Organizations need secure internal channels that protect confidentiality, impartial follow-up, feedback to the reporter and proper record keeping. | Confidential or anonymous reporting, an immediate case code as receipt, two-way follow-up and status, exclusions for impartiality, and retention with purge. |
Autessa’s own security and compliance posture is published on the Autessa Trust Center. Check your obligations with your counsel or auditor.
Use cases
Who uses an ethics hotline?
Compliance and ethics officers, audit committees, HR and people leaders, legal, security and privacy teams, and every employee who might one day need to speak up.
- A company preparing for SOC 2Stand up a tested, logged whistleblower channel before the audit window.
- A finance team under SOXGive employees an anonymous way to raise accounting concerns that reaches the audit committee.
- A growing company in the EUOffer an internal reporting channel with confidentiality and follow-up.
- A people teamRoute harassment and retaliation concerns to an independent committee, not a reporting line.
Security and privacy
Private by design, accountable by default
- No IP address or device details recorded for reporters
- Passphrases stored only as a hash, never in a URL or storage
- Reports encrypted at rest; emails never contain report details
- Reports reach only the named committee, minus anyone left out
- A narrow data key that can never delete, rotated with no downtime
- Append-only access log of every case open and change
Integrations
Works with what you already have
Committee members sign in with the Autessa accounts they already use at your company. Notifications go by email. Metrics export to CSV for your auditor or board. The hotline is a link you can put anywhere: the handbook, your intranet, a poster or your HR system.
All integrations →Compare
Evaluating ethics hotline software?
Fair, factual comparisons with the hotlines teams most often look at.
FAQ
Questions about Autessa Ethics Hotline
What is Autessa Ethics Hotline?
Autessa Ethics Hotline is an anonymous whistleblower hotline with ethics case management built in. Employees report concerns on a private web page, anonymously or confidentially; a named ethics committee works each report as a case, messages the reporter through the hotline, records the outcome and keeps an append-only access log.
Does it work out of the box?
Yes. The hotline page, report form, committee workspace, notifications and metrics are ready from day one. You tailor it to your company in Autessa: your own hotline wording, who sits on the committee, who is notified and how long cases are kept.
Can employees report anonymously and still get updates?
Yes. Anonymous is the default: the hotline does not ask for a name or email and never records an IP address or device details. The reporter gets a case code and a passphrase, and with those two they can check the status, read the committee’s questions and reply, as often as they like, without saying who they are.
Who can see a hotline report?
Only the members of your ethics committee who were not left out of that report. HR roles and company admins do not see reports unless they are on the committee. If the report involves a committee member, the reporter can keep that person from seeing it, being emailed about it or being assigned it.
What happens if a report is about a member of the ethics committee?
The reporter can exclude them. On the second step of the form, the reporter sees the committee’s display names and checks anyone who should not see the report. That member gets the same “not found” as a case that does not exist, and at least one member must remain so the report still reaches someone.
How does an anonymous reporter talk to investigators?
Through anonymous two-way messaging on the hotline. The committee writes from the case page, and the reporter reads and answers on the Check a report page with their code and passphrase. Committee messages are signed “the ethics committee”, never a person’s name.
Does the hotline record IP addresses or device details?
No. Autessa Ethics Hotline never records a reporter’s IP address or device details. Reports are encrypted at rest, passphrases are never put in a URL, browser storage or a log, and notification emails never contain report details.
Does Autessa Ethics Hotline help with SOC 2, SOX and the EU Whistleblowing Directive?
Yes. It gives you an anonymous channel with follow-up, access limited to a named committee, an append-only access log, retention settings, metrics, a content-free export and a hotline test you can show an auditor. Autessa’s own security posture is published on the Trust Center.
How do we prove the hotline works?
Run a hotline test. It files a clearly marked test report through the same path as a real one, emails the committee a [TEST] notice, and gives you a case code and passphrase so you can check the case and reply as a reporter. Close the test case afterwards; tests are left out of metrics unless you include them.
How do reporters share evidence?
Reporters describe their evidence in the report (emails, documents, photos and where they are), and the committee can ask for it through the hotline’s secure messages.
How long are cases kept?
As long as you choose: from 1 to 25 years after a case is closed or dismissed. After that, a committee member can purge the case content; the case code, category, dates and outcome stay for your records.
How long does setup take?
Minutes. A company admin runs the guided setup, which makes a narrow data key in a few seconds, then the first member claims the committee, adds at least one more member and runs a hotline test.
100% customizable, code and all
Make Autessa Ethics Hotline fully your own.
Use it out of the box, then change anything. Ask Autobot, Autessa’s AI builder, for a new field, screen, report, workflow or agent and it builds it into your copy of the app. Or open the code and edit it yourself. Nothing is locked: the app, its data and its code are yours.
Start free and make it yours