Definition
What is Open HUMINT?
Open HUMINT is human intelligence gathered openly: from identified people, through consent-based interviews, with nothing collected without their knowledge.
01Principles
Four things make it open.
Willing participants
People take part by choice. They are asked as experts, not treated as sources.
On the record
Every participant knows who we are and why we are asking. What they are told about the client is agreed with the client first.
Aligned incentives
Sharing what they know raises people's standing, so they want to contribute.
Verified
Every claim is cross-checked against other people and documents before it reaches a report.
02Open and operational
Two ends of one field.
Operational HUMINT works with people who will not share. Open HUMINT engages people who gain from sharing. Both serve legitimate needs.
| Compare | Open HUMINT | Operational HUMINT |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | People who gain from sharing | People who will not share |
| Participants | Identified, willing, informed | Often confidential or unaware of the client |
| Typical question | How does this really work, and what are we missing? | What is this third party doing? |
| Methods | Open interviews, cross-checking | Confidential source inquiries, sometimes surveillance |
03Questions
Common questions.
Is Open HUMINT the same as OSINT?
No. OSINT (open-source intelligence) works from published information. Open HUMINT works with people, openly, to capture what was never published or written down.
Where does the term come from?
Intelligence practice has long separated overt from clandestine collection from people. Open HUMINT is our name for the overt end, applied to business and public sector questions.
Who is Open HUMINT for?
Organisations whose answer sits with people: front-line staff, partners, customers, specialists nobody thought to ask.
04How we compare
Open HUMINT next to the firms you might call.
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