How did a journalist find out who was responsible for bombing hospitals in Syria from his desk in New York? How can South Sudanese monitors safely track and detail the weapons in their communities and make sure that global audiences take notice? How do researchers in London coordinate worldwide work uncovering global corruption? What are policy-makers, lawyers, and intelligence agencies doing to keep up with and make use of these activities?In the age of Google, threats to human security are being tracked in completely new ways. Human rights abuses, political violence, nuclear weapons, corruption, radicalization, and conflict are all being monitored, analyzed, and documented. Although open source investigations are neither easy to conduct nor straightforward to apply, with diligence and effort, societies, agencies, and individuals have the potential to use them to strengthen security.This interdisciplinary book presents 18 original chapters by prize-winning practitioners, experts, and rising stars, detailing what open source investigations are and how they are carried out, and examining the opportunities and challenges they present to global transparency, accountability and justice. It is essential reading for current and future digital investigators, journalists, and scholars of global governance, international relations and humanitarian law, as well as anyone interested in the possibilities and dangers of this new field.

"How did a journalist find out who was responsible for bombing hospitals in Syria without leaving his desk in New York? How can South Sudanese activists safely track and detail the weapons in their communities, and make sure that global audiences take notice? How do researchers in London coordinate worldwide work uncovering global corruption? What are policy makers, lawyers, and intelligence agencies doing to keep up with and make use of these activities? In the Age of Google, threats to human security of every kind are being tracked in completely new ways. Human rights abuses, political violence, nuclear weapons deployments, corruption, radicalisation, and conflict, are all being monitored, analysed, and documented. The startling results are disseminated to diverse audiences, achieving lasting impacts. Though open source investigations are neither easy to conduct nor straightforward to apply, with diligence and effort, societies, agencies, and individuals have the potential to use them to strengthen human security. This interdisciplinary book presents 18 contributions by prize-winning practitioners, experts and rising stars, detailing what open source investigations are and how they are carried out, alongside the opportunities and challenges they present to global transparency, accountability and justice. It is essential reading for current and future digital investigators, journalists, and scholars of global governance, international relations, humanitarian law, or anyone with an interest in the possibilities and dangers of this new field"--

This book covers the developing field of open source research and discusses how to use social media, satellite imagery, big data analytics, and user-generated content to strengthen human rights research and investigations. The topics are presented in an accessible format through extensive use of images and data visualization.

In the information age, it is critical that we understand the implications and exposure of the activities and data documented on the Internet. Improved efficiencies and the added capabilities of instant communication, high-speed connectivity to browsers, search engines, websites, databases, indexing, searching and analytical applications have made

One of the most important aspects for a successful police operation is the ability for the police to obtain timely, reliable and actionable intelligence related to the investigation or incident at hand. Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) provides an invaluable avenue to access and collect such information in addition to traditional investigative techniques and information sources. This book offers an authoritative and accessible guide on how to conduct Open Source Intelligence investigations from data collection to analysis to the design and vetting of OSINT tools. In its pages the reader will find a comprehensive view into the newest methods for OSINT analytics and visualizations in combination with real-life case studies to showcase the application as well as the challenges of OSINT investigations across domains. Examples of OSINT range from information posted on social media as one of the most openly available means of accessing and gathering Open Source Intelligence to location data, OSINT obtained from the darkweb to combinations of OSINT with real-time analytical capabilities and closed sources. In addition it provides guidance on legal and ethical considerations making it relevant reading for practitioners as well as academics and students with a view to obtain thorough, first-hand knowledge from serving experts in the field.

In an era shaped by misinformation, conspiracy theories, and anti-science movements, Science and Technology Studies / Science, Technology and Society (STS) provides a lighthouse of insight and interdisciplinary research. This volume, 'Science, technology and society for a post-truth age: Comparative dialogues on reflexivity,' embarks on a transformative journey through the interdependencies of science, technology, and society, offering vital perspectives and new insights on these challenging topics. This book, written by scholars in the field, reshapes post-truth discourse through STS and positions STS as a central force in addressing the post-truth crisis. It presents a compelling contribution that anchors STS at the heart of contemporary debates about truth and knowledge. 'Science, technology and society for a post-truth age: Comparative dialogues on reflexivity' is a contemporary and thought-provoking exploration of the evolving relationship between knowledge, truth, and society. It makes the case that STS is a catalyst for reshaping our understanding of truth in an age characterised by scepticism and uncertainty.

How can we build back truth online? Here’s how. How can we build back truth online? In this book, researcher Leslie F. Stebbins provides solutions for repairing our existing social media platforms and building better ones that prioritize value over profit, strengthen community ties, and promote access to trustworthy information. Stebbins provides a road map with six paths forward to understand how platforms are designed to exploit us, how we can learn to embrace agency in our interactions with digital spaces, how to build tools to reduce harmful practices, how platform companies can prioritize the public good, how we can repair journalism, and how to strengthen curation to promote trusted content and create new, healthier digital public squares. New, experimental models that are ethically designed to build community and promote trustworthy content are having some early successes. We know that human social networks—online and off—magnify whatever they are seeded with. They are not neutral. We also know that to repair our systems we need to repair their design. We are being joined in the fight by some of the best and brightest minds of our current generation as they flee big tech companies in search of vocations that value integrity and public values. The problem of misinformation is not insurmountable. We can fix this.

While many books have been written about private investigation, this text is different in that it does not deal with the subject from traditional perspectives. It examines how private investigation has grown, particularly since 9-11, into an exacting and sophisticated occupation. The book looks at the key issues in what it describes as private intelligence; that is, intelligence activities practiced by operatives other than law enforcement, national security, or the military. Eleven world experts contribute chapters addressing key practice issues concerning the skills, abilities, and knowledge necessary in the new realm of private intelligence. The initial three chapters provide a report on present-day private intelligence and offer an overview of the specifics of intelligence issues that follow. Eleven subsequent chapters take the reader progressively through various intelligence-related subjects. Major topics presented include: skills for intelligence-led private investigators, open source intelligence, target profiling, fraud intelligence, political intelligence, anti-terrorist and anti-gang intelligence, illicit organizations and financial intelligence, counterintelligence, clandestine communication methods, preparing a prosecution brief, legal issues for intelligence-led private investigators, and ethical issues for intelligence-led private investigators. Additionally, the text contains several features that will appeal to both students and instructors. These include a set of key terms and phrases, a number of study questions, and learning activities in each chapter. Written in a clear and concise style, the text provides a foundation of practical and useful information. It will be a most important and unique resource for undergraduate students in private investigation courses as well as intelligence practitioners and general readers interested in self-development study.

This Study, which covers 121 UNESCO Member States, represents a global benchmarking of journalistic source protection in the Digital Age. It focuses on developments during the period 2007-2015. The legal frameworks that support protection of journalistic sources, at international, regional and country levels, are under significant strain in 2015. They are increasingly at risk of erosion, restriction and compromise - a development that is seen to represent a direct challenge to the established universal human rights of freedom of expression and privacy, and one that especially may constitute a threat to the sustainability of investigative journalism. --Page 7.