What we publish
The Formal Record is a fortnightly briefing on security, identity, AI and formal communication for law, finance and fiduciary firms. We publish four kinds of record:
- Brief: a short news item and why it matters.
- Analysis: a real incident, examined for what the communication behind it could prove.
- Report: a longer investigation.
- Benchmark: data Letro collected itself, by a method we publish with it.
Who publishes it
The Formal Record is published and edited by Letro Tech GmbH, which sells secure client communication software. It is not independent of Letro, and we do not present it as independent.
Where a record touches a product or market Letro sells in, the record says so in a disclosure under the byline. Letro products appear only where they are relevant to the facts, never as the subject of a record.
How we check
Every factual claim traces to a named source: a primary document, a regulator’s publication, a court record, an on-the-record interview or data we collected ourselves. Figures are reported as published and never extrapolated beyond their sample. Where we could not verify something, the record says so.
Records that characterise law or regulation are reviewed by a lawyer before filing. We name sources wherever we can. Anonymous sources are used only when the information matters and a named source is not possible; the editor knows who they are. We do not pay for information.
Record numbers, versions and corrections
Each record has a permanent number, FR-YEAR-NNNN, that is never reused. Records are versioned. When we correct or update a record, we raise its version, note the date and what changed in the record history, and keep the original filing date. Nothing is edited silently.
To report an error, write to us through the contact page and cite the record number.
Contact page →Use of AI
We use AI tools to monitor sources, sort material and prepare drafts. A named editor checks every fact against its source and approves every record before it is filed.
Images
Images enter the record as evidence, not decoration. An image appears only when it shows what the text cannot: a document, a place, a person or an interface. It carries its provenance with it.
A place, event or scene central to the record. Full width, after the findings, never above the headline.
A supporting photograph inside the argument, next to the sentence it supports.
A document, screenshot or interface, shown as evidence. Shown whole, never cropped.
A named source who agreed to be pictured, only beside their quote.
Every image declares where it came from
We hold the original file and have checked its source, metadata and capture details.
Provided by a named third party. We confirmed who supplied it, not every detail it shows. Never used as the evidence a finding rests on.
Recreated by us to show a real item we cannot publish, such as a redacted document. The caption says what was recreated and why.
Produced with an AI model. Used only when the record is about AI output itself, and labelled on the image and in the credit.
Treatment
- Natural colour, high in contrast
- Square corners: no radius, shadow or frame
- Caption, provenance and credit below the image
- Client data redacted with solid black bars
- One image per section at most
- Text or figures set over a photograph
- Filters, duotones or heavy grain
- Blur or pixelation as redaction: it can be reversed
- Stock clichés: padlocks, hoodies, handshakes, code rain
- An image in place of the key finding
- AI imagery without the AI-generated label
Named people are pictured only with written consent on file. Anonymous sources are never pictured. Client names, account and passport numbers, signatures and machine-readable zones are removed before upload, and published files have location data removed.
No paid placement
We do not accept payment, sponsorship or advertising for anything that appears in The Formal Record, and we do not publish sponsored records.
Subscriptions and your data
Subscribing gives us your email address and, if you choose, the sectors you follow. We use them to send The Formal Record. You can unsubscribe at any time. Our privacy notice explains how we process personal data.
Privacy notice →Questions about this policy? Write to us through the contact page. Contact page →