An independent, free guide · Public sources only · No people lookupsOur rules →
Osintian
An independent, free guide to open-source intelligence

Find what's true. Leave people alone.

Osintian teaches open-source intelligence the careful way: how to check a photo, a message, a website or a company with public sources, how to record what you found, and how to see what is out there about you.

Start with a skill →Read our rules
FreeIndependentPublic sources onlyNo people lookups
A researcher's hands hold a brass loupe over a printed satellite photograph of a river town, beside a paper map, a ruler and a notebook.Read the detailLog where and whenCompare with a map
Exhibit 00 · Desk workSatellite print, paper map, loupe, log
What OSINT is

Open-source intelligence is a checked, sourced answer built only from information anyone may lawfully see.OSINT · noun · /ˈoʊ.sɪnt/

Public web pages, news reports, archived pages, maps and satellite images, official registers, court records, the data inside a photo file. Journalists use them to check a claim before they print it. Fraud teams use them to spot a fake company. You can use them to check a text message before you tap the link.

The skill is not finding more. It is asking one good question, checking each answer twice, and writing down how you know. That is what this site teaches, one skill per page, with the lawful purpose named first.

What it is not

  • Looking up a private person
  • Following someone's location
  • Getting past a login or a privacy setting
  • Using leaked or stolen data
  • A background check for a hiring or tenant decision
Six skills, one method

Start from one question. Branch only as far as you need.

Every topic on Osintian is a branch of the same method. Pick the one that matches the question in front of you: a photo, a message, a company, or your own exposure. Each topic page holds the steps, the law, and the 35 guides we are writing.

RootOne question, asked for a lawful reason.

Is it real? Is it a scam? Is this company what it claims? What can a stranger see about me?

The topics

Six case files, opened for anyone to learn from.

Each topic starts with what you are allowed to do and why, then walks through the work the way a careful researcher does it: steps, records, the law, and where the line sits.

A photographer's hands slide a memory card into a laptop card reader beside a camera and a printed harbour photograph.
Exhibit 01 · Photo Metadata

Photo Metadata

Read what a photo file says about itself, and strip it from your own photos before you share.

  • How to get metadata from a photo, on phone and computer
  • Remove EXIF data from your own photos before you share
  • Remove photo metadata on iPhone
Open the case file →
A tidy workbench seen from above: a closed laptop, a street map with three paper flags, a loupe, a magnifier, a notebook and index cards.
Exhibit 02 · OSINT Tools and Basics

OSINT Tools and Basics

What open-source intelligence is, the method behind it, and the tools sorted by the job they do.

  • Best OSINT tools, sorted by task
  • Free OSINT tools for verification and self-checks
  • The OSINT Framework: what it is and how to read it
Open the case file →
A man at a home desk writes a checklist in a notebook beside an open laptop and a cup of coffee.
Exhibit 03 · Digital Footprint Self-Check

Digital Footprint Self-Check

Run open-source research on yourself: see what is out there about you, then fix what you can.

  • What is a digital footprint?
  • How to find your digital footprint: the evening self-check
  • Have I Been Pwned: check your own email, then act
Open the case file →
A woman at a kitchen table pauses over a text on her phone, a printed bank statement and an open laptop beside her.
Exhibit 04 · Scam Texts and Emails

Scam Texts and Emails

Check a suspicious text or email with public sources before you click, then report it.

  • Scam text messages: how to check one before you click
  • USPS scam text: the parcel fee message, checked
  • DMV and toll text scams: the tells and the official warnings
Open the case file →
Hands sign a printed form with a blue pen beside addressed envelopes, a roll of stamps and a stapler.
Exhibit 05 · Remove Your Information

Remove Your Information

A plan to take your own details off search results and people-search sites, one opt-out at a time.

  • How to remove personal information online: the full plan
  • Remove personal information from Google Search
  • SmartBackgroundChecks opt-out for your own record
Open the case file →
A researcher in a public records room lifts a heavy bound registry ledger from a metal shelf of grey archive boxes.
Exhibit 06 · Company Checks

Company Checks

Due diligence on a business with official registers: is the company real, active and who it says it is?

  • How to check if a company is legit: the due-diligence routine
  • Business lookup: searching official state registers
  • LLC lookup in California: the bizfile search
Open the case file →
Two pairs of hands compare a printed photo of a hillside street and church tower with a paper map, measuring it with brass dividers.
The method

Every answer is checked twice and written down.

Above: a news photo is compared with a map, landmark by landmark, before anyone says where it was taken. The same five steps run under every skill on this site, whether it is a photo, a text message or a company register.

  1. Step 01PlanWrite down one clear question and why you are allowed to ask it.
  2. Step 02CollectGather from public sources only. Save each page with its address and the time.
  3. Step 03VerifyCheck every key fact against a second, independent source.
  4. Step 04RecordLog what you found, where, when and how you checked it.
  5. Step 05ShareGive the answer with its limits, and leave private people out of it.
How the method works →
Before any search

Five questions we ask before we look anything up.

Open-source skills can protect people or hurt them. So every method page on Osintian carries a box titled “Is this lawful and ethical?”, and every search starts with these five questions. If the last answer is yes, we stop and teach the defence instead.

A closed manila case folder tied with string, a fountain pen across it, a brass desk bell and an open law book.
Exhibit 07 · Rules first
Pre-search checkForm OS-1
What is the question?One answerable question, written down. Not 'everything about'.
Why am I allowed to ask it?Verification, journalism, fraud defence, due diligence on a business, or a check on yourself.
Is the source public?Visible to anyone without a login, a trick or a fake account.
Which law applies?Your country and state, the site's terms, and the FCRA if a decision about a person is involved.
Could this hurt a private person?If yes, stop. Learn the defence instead: protect yourself, report, opt out.
The full rulesNo stalking, no exposing private people, no tracking a partner or family member, no getting past logins, no leaked data. Read the ethics and rules page →
Where the line is

What we teach, and what we never will.

People-search sites come up a lot in this field. On Osintian they appear in one way only: how to take your own record off them. We do not link to their search pages and we take no money from them.

We teach

  • Checking whether a photo, video or claim in the news is real
  • Checking a text, email or website before you trust it
  • Due diligence on a business before you pay or sign
  • Searching for yourself, and removing what you can
  • Checking your own email against known breaches
  • The laws that protect you: FCRA, CCPA, GDPR

We never teach

  • Finding a private person's home, phone, workplace or routine
  • Following a partner, ex, child or co-worker
  • Getting past logins, paywalls or privacy settings
  • Fake accounts used to deceive real people
  • Searching leaked or stolen data about anyone
  • Background checks for jobs, housing, credit or insurance
Two fact-checkers at a tall table in a bright newsroom sort printed photographs, one holding a photo up to the window light.
Exhibit 08 · Who does this workFact-checkers, printed photos
Who uses these skills

The same habits a fact-checker uses, in plain English.

Newsrooms, fraud teams, compliance analysts and human-rights researchers do this work every day. Their habits are not secret: write the question down, save the source, check it twice, say what you could not confirm.

Our worked examples use fictional people, organisations and places, or public figures acting in their public role. Never a real private person. And every tool we mention carries the date we last looked at it, because tools change fast.

About Osintian →
An empty public library reading room in the morning with long tables and green-shaded lamps.
Begin

Pick one skill. Learn it properly.

Most people start with the photo metadata case file or the scam message checks. Both take an evening, and both protect you the next day.

Photo metadata →Scam texts and emails