“In the absence of the governmental checks and balances present in other areas of our national life, the only effective restraint upon executive policy and power in the areas of national defense and international affairs may lie in an enlightened citizenry — in an informed and critical public opinion which alone can here protect the values of democratic government. For this reason, it is perhaps here that a press that is alert, aware, and free most vitally serves the basic purpose of the First Amendment. For, without an informed and free press, there cannot be an enlightened people.” – Justice Potter Stewart, New York Times Co. v. United States, June 30, 1971



What is Public Intelligence?

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.

What has Public Intelligence done?

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:

What can Public Intelligence do for you?

If you have information of importance to the public at large, we can help you to publish this information and maintain its availability. We have an established platform for the publication of sensitive information that is robust and capable of maintaining public access to information in the face of opposition from corporations and governments around the world. No document has ever been removed from this site and we operate a multi-jurisdictional network of servers that is designed to inhibit attempts to censor us and the content we publish.

About This Site

This site aggregates the collective work of our researchers and makes it available in a format which is designed to be as accessible as possible. We endeavor to make complex information and documentation available to a mainstream audience. Everything on this site is accessible free of charge. All of our original content is considered to be in the public domain and may be reproduced freely. We sometimes utilize material which is copyrighted in the production of our content, often without prior approval. However, this is done in a manner that is consistent with fair use, particularly that which is protected under Title 17, Chapter 1, § 107 and § 108 of the U.S. Code. This site utilizes minimal advertising to ensure continued operation and does not seek commercial advantage from the reproduction of such works.

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