The Butterfly Bureau’s OSINT Tradecraft section is where investigative skills meet real world application. This category focuses on the tools, techniques, and methodologies used by open source intelligence researchers, journalists, digital investigators, and citizen sleuths to uncover information hidden in plain sight.
Resistance Survival Guide #314 Federal agencies can expand their collection of personal information without announcing the change in plain language. A new question may appear on a familiar form. A revised database may add biometric, location, health, immigration, financial, employment, household, or social media fields. An agency may also purchase access to information that it …
Resistance Survival Guide #313 Government surveillance rarely operates through one agency or one database. Information can move between police departments, federal agencies, emergency management offices, schools, private contractors, technology vendors, and intelligence centers. Each organization may hold only part of the picture. Together, they can form a powerful government data fusion network. Mapping that network …
Resistance Survival Guide #312 American elections are intentionally decentralized. State and local officials maintain voter records, prepare ballots, operate polling places, count votes, conduct audits, and certify results under laws that differ across jurisdictions. Congress possesses significant constitutional authority over federal elections, but a president does not ordinarily control these administrative decisions. An election administration …
Resistance Survival Guide #311 Government records disappear for many reasons. A website may be redesigned. A database may be migrated. Temporary records may reach the end of an approved retention period. An employee may leave before their files are properly transferred. None of these events automatically proves that evidence was deliberately destroyed. A coordinated records …
Resistance Survival Guide #310 A law can remain on the books while its protections disappear in practice. An agency does not need to publicly repeal a regulation to weaken it. Officials can reduce investigations, change case closure rules, redirect staff, stop making referrals, lower penalties, or quietly classify complaints as matters that require no action. …
Resistance Survival Guide #309 Government websites are not permanent archives. Pages can disappear, reports can move, datasets can be replaced, and policy language can change without a clear public explanation. When this happens, the missing material may contain evidence about government priorities, enforcement standards, public health guidance, civil rights protections, contracts, spending, or official promises. …
Resistance Survival Guide #308 Government agencies increasingly use automated systems to decide who receives assistance, who is investigated, where police officers are deployed, which families receive additional scrutiny, and which applications are rejected. These systems may be described as artificial intelligence, predictive analytics, risk assessment, decision support, fraud detection, resource allocation, prioritization, or case management. …
Resistance Survival Guide #307 Government information does not always remain with the agency that originally collected it. A person may provide an address to receive health care, income information to pay taxes, identification records to obtain a license, or family details to apply for public assistance. That information may later be transferred, matched, searched, or …
Resistance Survival Guide #306 Local surveillance does not usually arrive with a siren. It arrives through city budget lines, police technology grants, vendor contracts, school safety agreements, traffic cameras, drone programs, license plate readers, camera registries, and quiet data sharing deals. By the time the public notices, the system may already be installed, connected, and …
Resistance Survival Guide #304 Political patronage rarely announces itself with a villain speech and a monogrammed corruption cape. It usually appears as a pattern. The same names show up on advisory boards. The same donors become vendors. The same staffers become lobbyists. The same nonprofit boards overlap with public contracts. The same families, firms, and …