Markero now offers 12 months of Premium access to qualifying journalists, activists, human-rights defenders and researchers. The programme is for people who need private communication without handing over a phone number, an email address or a public social graph.

Markero is an end-to-end encrypted messenger for the web and Android. Messages and files are encrypted on the device before they reach the server. Private channels are invite-only, and the full service is available through an official Tor onion service.

What the programme includes

• 12 months of Premium: 100 MB uploads, 1 GB personal storage, up to 5 private channels and 1 GB of storage per channel.
• No subscriber cap: private channels can hold more than the free 50-subscriber limit.
• Manual review: access is granted by a human, not an automated score.
• Renewable: if you still need it, ask again when the period ends.

Who qualifies

The programme is open to professional and freelance journalists, editors and newsroom support staff, human-rights defenders, activists, NGO staff and researchers working on sensitive topics.

We ask for a short affiliation or a verifiable public link. We do not ask for source identities, unpublished material, assignment details or a copy of your identity document.

How to request access

1. Create a Markero account with a username. You do not need to provide an email address or phone number to use the service.
2. Email [email protected] with the subject Journalist or activist access. Include your username, a short affiliation or public link, and whether you need Tor guidance. You can also message bugas in the app.
3. We will confirm eligibility and grant Premium manually. Do not send source identities or sensitive material in the request.

Full programme details: Press, media and journalist access.

What Markero does not protect

• Your identity. Your username, writing style, device and behaviour can still identify you.
• Compromised devices. Malware, screen capture or an unlocked device can expose messages.
• Metadata. The server still processes account and message metadata. See the privacy policy and threat model.
• Calls and notifications. Tor Browser may block WebRTC and push notifications. Text, files, private channels and real-time messaging work; voice calls may not.

Verify this is Markero

The Markero website uses this OpenPGP fingerprint for official signed statements:

744DE436A4CC54CA8849E78C2C0AE9672C7BE27E

The public key is available at /pgp-key.asc and in security.txt. Compare the fingerprint through a separate trusted channel before trusting another site that looks like Markero.