EQS Integrity Line vs OpenWhistle

EQS Integrity Line is whistleblowing software for employees and third parties to report wrongdoing within an organisation. Reports can be anonymous, and a secure mailbox lets the reporter continue a conversation without disclosing their identity. Case management includes configurable authorisations, access controls and revision logs. The system supports over 80 languages and can automatically translate cases and dialogue. Compliance teams can use dashboards, charts, real-time analysis, search and filters, and download cases in Excel format. Organisations can combine reports from letters, email, phone calls and meetings; a telephone channel is available for Enterprise. EQS says the service is hosted in Germany and uses ISO 27001-certified data centres, encryption, two-factor authentication and regular external security audits. Essential costs £85 a month, while Professional costs £170 a month. A seven-day free trial of Essential begins after the demo system is set up. The product is available on Android, iOS and web.

OpenWhistle is open-source software for organisations that need an internal whistleblowing channel under EU Directive 2019/1937 and Germany’s HinSchG. It runs on the organisation’s own server through Docker Compose or a Helm chart; the project does not offer hosted service. Reporters can submit information without an account or email address and receive a case number and UUID4 PIN to return to the status page, read replies, and send messages. In confidential mode, the reporter’s name and contact details are encrypted and shown to the case handler only after an audited reason. Admin sign-in supports a password, LDAP, or OIDC, and requires TOTP. The maker says it does not store IP addresses and outbound requests are opt-in and off by default. Closed reports are deleted after 1,095 days by default. The interface supports English, German, French, and Brazilian Portuguese. It is free under GNU GPL v3.0, with no paid tier; the organisation provides its own server.