I was confused by it too, because I thought privately run tip line contact forms were relatively common, but I changed my mind after building this Google query. The only notable private organization doing it seems to be CrimeStoppers, and they are a de facto public organization due to how closely they work with police and major local media. So this does seem to be a legal innovation and it makes sense that there would be organizations and vendors having to react to it for the first time.

https://www.google.com/search?q=tip+line+contact+form+-%22po...