ObSINT – Guidelines for public interest OSINT investigations

The ObSINT (The European Open Source Intelligence Organisations Observatory) is a collective of esteemed organisations dedicated to conducting open-source investigations for the public. Our founding members include EU DisinfoLab, DFR Lab, Osint Curious, CheckFirst, the Centre for Information Resilience, OpenFacto, and Logically. Together, we work tirelessly to deliver accurate and unbiased information to the public.

ObSINT was born from a need for a unified organiSation that could bring together other OSINT groups under the umbrella of a common goal, as outlined in the Guidelines produced by the founding members and the community. This collective effort aimed to promote good practices and ethical standards in OSINT, ensuring that our findings are objective, verifiable, and relevant to the public interest.

ObSINT is not a closed garden. We are an open organisation that welcomes every OSINT practitioner, whether you are an individual, a small team, or a large organisation. Our goal is to help everyone converge towards a common purpose and encourage best practices in OSINT. Our community believes that we can accomplish more by working together, sharing knowledge and resources, and supporting each other.

The Guidelines produced by the founding members are the first of many tools we hope to see emerge from the community. We believe that these guidelines will serve as a starting point for organisations to adopt and adapt to their specific needs. As a community, we understand that OSINT practitioners face unique challenges in the course of their work. Therefore, we encourage everyone to contribute to the development of new tools and resources that will enhance our collective capacity to produce accurate, ethical, and relevant information.

We recognize that adopting the Guidelines may be daunting for some organisations. However, we are here to help. Our community is committed to providing guidance, support, and feedback to anyone who wishes to adopt the Guidelines or any other best practices we promote. We want to build a community of practice that fosters continuous learning and improvement.

In conclusion, the ObSINT is a collaborative community of OSINT practitioners who share a common goal of producing accurate, ethical, and relevant information for the public. Our community is open to all, and we encourage everyone to contribute to our collective effort to promote good practices in OSINT. We believe that by working together, we can achieve more than by working alone.