OSINT Education Spotlight: Observation vs. Elicitation

The ability to observe information is part of the definition of publicly available information, and therefore clearly permitted for OSINT activities. Elicitation is more closely associated with human intelligence (HUMINT) collection. The specific act of requesting information or asking a question is frequently confused with elicitation. However, the act of requesting information or asking a question at an event open to the public is an element of the observation category. Elicitation is defined “[I]n intelligence usage, [as] the acquisition of information from a person or group in a manner that does not disclose the intent of the interview or conversation.” For example, attending the Paris Air Show and asking a question of an aerospace company representative during a question-and-answer period would fall under the request element of the observation category. Asking said representative for drinks after the presentation and asking questions in a non-public setting would be elicitation.

See the OSINT Mediums of Publicly Available Information Document for more details here: https://lnkd.in/e66vjpvJ