What can and can't change after sending
Two things lock the moment you send a tip: what you wrote, and how a reward reaches you once it’s on its way. Two things stay open longer: your passphrase and your reward answer, each up to a point.
What you wrote and your files
Section titled “What you wrote and your files”What you wrote, and any files you attached, stay exactly as you sent them. There’s no edit control for you to use, and no way for your program to change them either.
If you have more to add later, send a message through your tip code instead. That adds new information alongside your tip. It doesn’t change what you already sent.
How you’ll receive a reward
Section titled “How you’ll receive a reward”If your tip leads to an arrest, your program may approve a reward. At that point you choose how you’ll receive it — an in-person cash pickup or a prepaid card — and you can switch your choice while your program is still getting it ready.
Once your reward is on its way to you, that choice locks. It can’t change after that.
Your passphrase
Section titled “Your passphrase”You can change your passphrase any time, as long as you know the current one. What you can’t do is remove it once it’s set.
Changing it needs your current passphrase. There’s no reset if you’ve forgotten it. See Passphrases and If you lose your code or passphrase for what to do instead.
Your reward answer
Section titled “Your reward answer”You can change your answer to the reward question — yes or no — any time before your program approves a reward.
Once a reward is approved, changing your answer isn’t part of the flow anymore. If your tip is closed before that point, your answer stays as it was then.
Why these limits exist
Section titled “Why these limits exist”Your report and your files work the same way as the rule that a tip can’t be deleted: once you’ve committed to something, nobody can pressure you into changing it after the fact.
A locked report can’t be edited to tell a different story later. A locked collection choice can’t be redirected once a reward is already moving toward you. Your passphrase stays open longer, but only up to the point where locking it protects you too. Your reward answer stays open until your program approves a reward. After that, it’s no longer part of the flow.
Related
Section titled “Related”If your question isn’t answered here, contact the program you’re reporting to.