Anonymous reporting · Autessa Ethics Hotline
Guided report form
Autessa Ethics Hotline’s anonymous report form walks a reporter through four steps on one page: What happened, Who can see it, Protect your report, and Review and send. Nothing leaves their browser until they press Send report on the last step, and each field explains, in plain words, what helps the committee and what might identify them.
Why it matters
A blank text box gets vague reports, and a long form gets none
Investigators need when, where, who and what evidence exists. Reporters need to feel in control and not interrogated. The guided form asks for the facts an investigation needs, keeps only two fields required, warns before the page is closed with unsent text, and lets the reporter review every answer and edit any step before sending.
What you get
- Eight concern categories, each with a one-line hint, from fraud and accounting to retaliation and “Something else”.
- Only two required fields on the first step: the kind of concern and what happened (at least 20 characters).
- Optional when, where, who was involved, “Have you reported this before?” (No, Yes, Not sure) with a follow-up, and evidence.
- A step indicator, a focused heading on every step and a warning before leaving with unsent text.
- A review page that lists every answer with an Edit link back to its step.
- Plain errors that take the reporter straight to the field that needs attention, even when the server finds it.
- Generous limits: up to 20,000 characters for what happened, with a counter only when they get close.
- A hidden honeypot field and a minimum time on the form keep bots out without a puzzle for people.
How it works
How does guided report form work?
What happened
Choose the kind of concern, describe it in your own words, and add when, where, who was involved, whether you reported it before, and any evidence you have (described, with where it is).
Who can see it
Choose Anonymous or Confidential, and check any committee member who should not see the report.
Protect your report
Take the suggested five-word passphrase (copy it, or ask for a new one) and confirm you saved it, or type your own twice.
Review and send
Read every answer, edit any step, and press Send report. A note reminds you that sending can’t be undone but you can add information later.
Get your case code
The confirmation page shows the case code and passphrase once, with copy and download buttons.
Every option
Every field on the report form
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| What kind of concern is it? (required) | One of eight categories: Fraud, accounting or auditing; Security or privacy incident; Harassment or discrimination; Health and safety; Conflict of interest; Policy or legal violation; Retaliation; Something else. |
| What happened? (required) | 20 to 20,000 characters. The hint reminds anonymous reporters to leave out details that identify them. |
| When did it happen? | Up to 300 characters: a date, a range or “ongoing”. |
| Where did it happen? | Up to 300 characters: an office, team, system or meeting. |
| Who was involved? | Up to 5,000 characters: names or roles, and anyone who saw it. |
| Have you reported this before? | No, Yes or Not sure. Yes opens “Who did you tell, and what happened?”. |
| Is there evidence? | Up to 5,000 characters describing emails, documents, photos or records and where they are. |
| Contact, exclusions and passphrase | Steps 2 and 3: Anonymous or Confidential, who to leave out, and the passphrase. |
Permissions
Who can do what?
The hotline’s access rules are enforced on the server for every request, not just hidden in the interface.
| Who | What they can do |
|---|---|
| Reporter (anyone with the hotline link; no account, no sign-in) | Fill in, review and send a report. Nothing is saved anywhere until Send report. |
| Ethics committee member | Read every field of reports they can see, on the case page. |
| Committee member left out of a report | Nothing. The report never appears for them. |
Connected
How it connects to the rest of the hotline
Ethics Hotline feature
Anonymous or confidential
Step two: how the reporter wants to be contacted.
Ethics Hotline feature
Leave out committee members
Also step two: keep anyone the report involves from seeing it.
Ethics Hotline feature
Case code and passphrase
Step three, and the confirmation page after sending.
Ethics Hotline feature
Case inbox
Where the report lands for the committee, as a New case.
FAQ
Questions about guided report form
Which fields are required on an ethics hotline report?
Only two: the kind of concern and a description of what happened of at least 20 characters. When, where, who was involved, earlier reports and evidence are optional, so reporters can share as much as they are comfortable with.
How do reporters share evidence?
Reporters describe their evidence and where it is, and the committee can ask for it through the hotline’s secure two-way messages.
What happens if a reporter closes the page by mistake?
The browser warns them before leaving once they have started describing what happened. Nothing is sent or saved until they press Send report.
What report categories does the hotline use?
Eight: fraud, accounting or auditing; security or privacy incident; harassment or discrimination; health and safety; conflict of interest; policy or legal violation; retaliation; and something else.
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