Overview

This playbook guides journalists, researchers, and civic accountability investigators through the ethical and effective process of researching public figures and individuals in their official capacities using open-source intelligence (OSINT) methods.

Audience: Journalists, researchers, accountability advocates Ethical boundary: This methodology applies to public figures acting in their official capacities, and to private individuals only where there is clear public interest justification. It is not for stalking, harassment, or surveillance of private individuals.

Quick Reference: Research Starting Points

Step-by-Step Research Process

Step 1: Define Your Research Goal and Ethics Check

Before beginning, answer:

1. Is this a public figure acting in an official capacity? If not, do I have clear public-interest justification?
2. What specific information do I need? (Don’t collect everything — collect what you need.)
3. Am I complying with platform terms of service?
4. Am I staying within legal boundaries (no unauthorized access, no hacking)?

Read: Methodology — Identity Investigation (Ethical OSINT)

Step 2: Open-Source Identity Research

Read: knowledgebase/investigative-tools/osint-identity/overview.md Read: Username Enumeration Read: Email OSINT (High Level) Read: Phone OSINT (High Level)

Covers username enumeration across platforms, email footprinting, phone number investigation, and the ethical and legal constraints on each.

Step 3: Step-by-Step OSINT Tutorials

Run through relevant tutorials:

• Tutorial — Username enumeration (ethical) — finding accounts across platforms
• Tutorial — Email OSINT (public footprint only) — email verification and enrichment
• Tutorial — Phone number investigation (lawful) — phone number lookup
• Tutorial — Breach data analysis (defensive framing) — ethical use of breach data

Step 4: Category-Specific Tools

Consult the relevant by-category tool lists:

• knowledgebase/investigative-tools/tool-catalog/by-category/people.md — people search tools
• Email OSINT (High Level) — email investigation tools
• Phone OSINT (High Level) — phone investigation tools
• Social Media Alignment with Authoritarian Regimes: Impact Framework — social media investigation tools

Step 5: Court Records and Legal History

Read: Tutorial — PACER court records search

Federal court records via PACER and CourtListener. State court records via individual state portals. Civil cases, criminal cases, bankruptcies, and related filings.

Step 6: Financial and Political Records

Read: Tutorial — OpenSecrets political money

FEC filings, OpenSecrets political donation records, lobbying disclosures.

Step 7: Example Output — Accountability Profiles

Reference: knowledgebase/accountability/ — 318 completed profiles

Study completed profiles to understand what a thorough research output looks like and what documentation standards to maintain.

Evidence Standards

• Document your source for every fact
• Capture and archive web sources immediately (they can be deleted)
• Do not publish unverified information — see Methodology — Media Verification for verification workflow
• Distinguish between confirmed facts and inferences

Read: Methodology — Evidence Preservation

Related Role-Based Playbooks

• Journalist Playbook
• Researcher Playbook
• Civil Rights Activist Playbook