Underscoring Public Intelligence

Public Intelligence is an awesome website. One that I’m sad I haven’t mentioned on The Hidden Dominion yet before. But we’re here today to do just that.

Find them here: PI

What is Public Intelligence?

Taken directly from their information page:

Public Intelligence is an international, collaborative research project aimed at aggregating the collective work of independent researchers around the globe who wish to defend the public’s right to access information. We operate upon a single maxim: equal access to information is a human right. We believe that limits to the average citizen’s ability to access information have created information asymmetries which threaten to destabilize democratic rule around the world. Through the control of information, governments, religions, corporations, and a select group of individuals have been able to manipulate public perception into accepting coercive agendas which are ultimately designed to limit the sovereignty and freedom of populations worldwide.
This site is an attempt to compile and defend public information using software and methods which are open source and available to the public at large. It is our hope that by making such information available and demonstrating the power of a public resolved to inform itself, we may engender a more informed and proactive populace. Within our first two years of operation, we have already received more than twenty threats and takedown notices from government agencies and corporations around the world for publishing documents discovered via open source methods available to any member of the public. No information has ever been removed or censored.
We provide documents, detailed analyses, and a host of other open-source intelligence products from the private and public sector. We attempt to provide information in a way that minimizes our involvement as much as is possible. Documents are provided in a raw format, available for download, with only excerpts and key facts accompanying them. The information in our analyses is collected and aggregated in a way that seeks to highlight facts that are neglected by traditional, mainstream sources.

Why Are They Being Promoted Here?

Take a look at some of the things they have done. You’ll quickly see why they fit in at HD:

Since its beginnings in the summer of 2009, PI has published thousands of documents relating to everything from computer forensics to the war in Afghanistan. Information published on this site has been cited in newspapers, magazines, books, television shows, scholarly articles and reports from leading think tanks around the world. Governments, corporations, law enforcement organizations, as well as private citizens, use PI to research primary source material relating to a large number of topics that affect the safety and security of their daily operations. Here are a few brief examples of significant material published by PI:

Confidential Facebook Law Enforcement Subpoena Guides 2007-2010
Confidential and proprietary manuals distributed by Facebook to the U.S. law enforcement community detailing retained user information, including IP addresses and private messages, that is capable of being retrieved and provided to law enforcement. Every version of the manual from 2007-2010 is included.
Restricted BP Azerbaijan Subsea Drilling Safety, Security, Environmental Procedure Manuals
More than fifty internal reports detailing safety and environmental protection procedures in BP’s subsea drilling operations in Azerbaijan. BP later demanded that the documents be removed via an outsourced Indian company. PI later published more than fifty updated manuals for the same region.
NATO Restricted Afghanistan Security Reports and SIGACTS Maps August-October 2010
Over a dozen classified NATO reports concerning Significant Actions (SIGACTs) and the week-to-week security situation in the war in Afghanistan from August to October 2010.
Confidential United Nations Afghanistan Security Reports August-October 2010
Eleven confidential reports from the United Nations Department of Safety and Security detailing week-to-week threats to UN operations in Afghanistan for the period August to October 2010.
More Than 90 Reports from Fusion Centers Around the United States
Over its nearly two years of operation, PI has published dozens of reports and bulletins from fusion centers all around the United States, maintaining one of the largest and most diffuse collections of such content on the internet. Some of the reports are the only existing public examples of products produced by certain fusion centers.
Fusion Center Physical Locations and Contact Information
The actual physical location and contact information for nearly all of the seventy-two fusion centers around the United States.
Director of National Intelligence Open Source Center Reports and Media Guides
More than fifty reports from the Director of National Intelligence’s Open Source Center detailing issues, media, and leaders around the globe. The second-largest collection of OSC documents available on the web covering covering everything from Chinese military bloggers to Tunisian government censorship of the media.
Complete U.S. Secret Service Network Intrusion Responder Program (NITRO) Course
Thousands of pages comprising the complete digital forensics course taught by the U.S. Secret Service at the National Computer Forensics Institute. Includes instructor’s guidebook, student workbooks, and accompanying slides.
Microsoft Windows 7/Vista Advanced Forensics Guides for Law Enforcement
A collection of guides given by Microsoft to law enforcement enabling them to find preform advanced forensic investigations into your Windows 7/Vista system, including breaking the BitLocker encryption system.
Federal Bureau of Prisons Counter-Terrorism Unit Inmate Spying Reports
Multiple reports from the Bureau of Prisons Counter-Terrorism Unit detailing the surveillance of inmates convicted of crimes relating to terrorism and housed in “Communications Management Units.” The reports detail surveillance of legally-protected, attorney-client privileged emails, as well as monitoring of political implications related to inmates communications with outside media and scholars.