Transcribe the interview. Keep the source safe.
Ratproof turns your recordings into text on your own computer. The audio never reaches us or anyone else, and there is nothing to install.
What security trainers tell reporters
Uploading audio to a transcription service means giving a copy of that — sometimes sensitive — recording over to
a company
(GIJN).
The Freedom of the Press Foundation's trainer uses offline tools for sensitive topics:
offline transcription tools that run on my device instead, such as
OpenAI's Whisper, though this does take a little more technical knowledge
.
Whisper on your device, without the setup
Ratproof runs Whisper inside your browser. Open the page, drop in the recording, and read the text as it appears. No Python, no command line, no install. After the first visit it keeps working with Wi-Fi off.
Check it before you trust it.
Press F12, open the Network tab, and transcribe a test file. Nothing goes to a server. Then go offline and do it again. Here is the full test.
Made for deadline work
- Text as it goes. Start reading while it works. First text in about 2 seconds in English.
- Click any line to hear it. Check the quote against the tape in seconds.
- Subtitles and text. Export SRT, VTT, text or Markdown.
- Every interview kept on your computer, in one place.
Transcription is free and unlimited, with no account. Ratproof Pro ($9.99 a month) adds speaker labels on whole recordings, adding many recordings at once, and search across every interview you keep.
Questions
Is it safe to upload a source interview to a transcription service?
The service gets a copy of the recording, and the company can technically access it. For a sensitive interview, transcribing on your own computer avoids that. Ratproof does the work inside your browser and never receives the file.
Is this the same as running Whisper myself?
It runs OpenAI's Whisper models (base, and small for higher accuracy) on your computer, with nothing to install. For Swedish it uses KB-Whisper, from the National Library of Sweden. You also get a kept, searchable library, click-to-play lines, speaker labels and subtitle export.
Does it work on a newsroom laptop?
Yes, in Chrome or Edge. It is a web page, so it needs no admin rights. It does need about 2.3 GB of free memory with the standard model.
What languages does it support?
English, Spanish, Italian and Swedish. Choose the language before you transcribe.