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Open-source intelligence

Data collected from publicly available sources to be used in an intelligence context

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 15, 2026
Entity authoritySource title only
Source-derived summary

Open-source intelligence (OSINT) is the collection and analysis of data gathered from 'open sources' to produce intelligence. OSINT is primarily used in national security, law enforcement, and business intelligence and is used by analysts to answer classified, unclassified, or proprietary intelligence requirements.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Open-source intelligence” as data collected from publicly available sources to be used in an intelligence context. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Open-source, intelligence and Data.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current 42-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 Open-source, intelligence and Data providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Open-source intelligence”, the useful work is to connect “data collected from publicly available sources to be used in an intelligence context” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 15, 2026.

Critical limits

The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Open-source intelligence”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Open-source intelligence primary sources, Open-source intelligence archive and Open-source research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Open-source intelligence”?
  2. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
  3. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Open-source intelligence” 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.