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List of intelligence gathering disciplines

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 12, 2026
Entity authorityQ6624136 ↗
Source-derived summary

This is a list of intelligence gathering disciplines.

HUMINT

Human intelligence (HUMINT) are gathered from a person in the location in question. Sources can include the following:

Advisors or foreign internal defense (FID) personnel working with host nation (HN) forces or populations

Diplomatic reporting by accredited diplomats (e.g. military attachés)

Espionage clandestine reporting, access agents, couriers, cutouts

Military attachés

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs)

Prisoners of war (POWs) or detainees

Refugees

Routine patrolling (military police, patrols, etc.)

Traveler debriefing (e.g. CIA Domestic Contact Service)

MI6 is often thought to use human intelligence to operate in different countries or Britain itself to protect the country from global affairs. However, this is usually confused with their brother agency MI5, which focuses on the security of Britain.

FININT

Financial intelligence (FININT) are gathered from analysis of monetary transactions.

GEOINT

Geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) are gathered from satellite and aerial photography, or mapping/terrain data.

Imagery intelligence (IMINT) – gathered from satellite and aerial photography

MASINT

Measurement and signature intelligence (MASINT) are gathered from an array of signatures (distinctive characteristics) of fixed or dynamic target sources. According to the Air Force Institute of Technology's Center for MASINT Studies and Research, MASINT is split into six major disciplines: electro-optical, nuclear, radar, geophysical, materials, and radiofrequency.

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Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current 206-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with List, intelligence and gathering providing the first useful test.
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This entry incorporates text from “List of intelligence gathering disciplines” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.