10 Investigative Tools You Probably Haven’t Heard of
Barbara Gray of CUNY – Tip sheet (click)
From Margot Williams – The Intercept – @MargotWilliams
Effective Google Searching
- Advanced search http://www.google.com/advanced_search
- Translated search http://www.google.com/language_tools
- Advanced News Search http://www.google.com/news/advanced_news_search
Search Engines
- FDsys http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/search/home.action
- HuriSearch: http://www.hurisearch.org/
- Search Wikileaks.org https://search.wikileaks.org/
- Hathi Trust Digital Library: https://www.hathitrust.org
- Search inside the book: Amazon, Google Books, Internet Archive
- Journal TOCs http://www.journaltocs.hw.ac.uk
- BASE-search https://www.base-search.net/Search/Advanced
- EMM NewsBrief: http://emm.newsbrief.eu
- Arachnys http://www.arachnys.com
Find a person
- InfoBel: http://www.infobel.com/en/world
- Numberway http://www.numberway.com/
- LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com
- CLEAR http://clearhq.org/Directory
- Salary database from PIBuzz http://pibuzz.com/government-salaries/
- FAA https://amsrvs.registry.faa.gov/airmeninquiry/ Margot‘s Google Doc example
Web & Social Media
- Verification Handbook for Investigative Reporting http://verificationhandbook.com/book2/chapter1.php
- New: Net Data Directory http://netdatadirectory.org
- Whois http://whoisrequest.org http://whois.domaintools.com
- Find Facebook ID http://netbootcamp.org/facebook.html
- Facebook graph search (Henk Van Ess) http://www.graph.tips
International planes & ships finders
- Equasis http://www.equasis.org
- com http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/
- Ship to shore phone directory: http://www.inmarsat.com/Support/Ships_Directory
- com http://maritime-connector.com/
- FlightAware: http://www.flightaware.com
- Flightwise http://flightwise.com/
- Flightradar24 http://www.flightradar24.com
- FAA Aircraft registry http://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificates/aircraft_certification/aircraft_registry/interactive_aircraft_inquiry
- Landings: http://www.landings.com
- Airport Codes: http://www.airlinecodes.co.uk/aptcodesearch.asp
Interesting Databases
- Security Assistance Monitor http://www.securityassistance.org
- Excess Defense Articles http://www.dsca.mil/programs/excess-defense-articles-eda
- Defense Logistics Agency 1033 data http://www.dispositionservices.dla.mil/EFOIA-Privacy/Pages/ereadingroom.aspx – 1033
- iTRACE conflict arms database: https://itrace.conflictarm.com
- TBIJ Drone Data https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/category/projects/drones/
- DOL Longshore /Defense Base Act http://www.oalj.dol.gov
- Federal contracts https://www.fpds.gov http://www.usaspending.gov
- FedBizOpps with ALERTS https://www.fbo.gov/
- FARA and Foreign Influence Explorer http://www.fara.gov http://foreign.influenceexplorer.com
- Enigma http://www.enigma.io
- TRACE Compendium https://secure.traceinternational.org/Knowledge/Compendium.html
- US work visa data http://foreignlaborcert.doleta.gov/performancedata.cfm
- Guantanamo Docket http://projects.nytimes.com/guantanamo
Check Public Records
- US federal inmate lookup http://www.bop.gov/iloc2/LocateInmate.jsp
- Arachnys Compass https://compass.arachnys.com
- Search Systems http://publicrecords.searchsystems.net/Other_Nations/
- BRB Pubs Free Public Records http://www.brbpub.com/free-public-records/
- Free Public Records Directory http://publicrecords.onlinesearches.com/
- CourtReference http://www.courtreference.com/
- World Legal Information Institute http://www.worldlii.org
Watchlists, Wanted & Missing Persons Lists
- Interpol Wanted Persons List http://www.interpol.int/Wanted–Persons
- gov: Debarred from business with US http://www.sam.gov
- Search OFAC http://sdnsearch.ofac.treas.gov/
- Denied Persons List http://export.gov/ecr/eg_mainasp
Lobbying & Ethics & Disclosure
- New: Combined Federal/State Disclosure and Election Directory 2016 http://fec.gov/pubrec/cfsdd/cfsdd.shtml
- Senate Office of Public Records Lobbying Disclosure http://www.senate.gov/legislative/Public_Disclosure/LDA_reports.htm
- US State Dept. Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/fara/
- Sunlight Foreign Influence Explorer http://foreign.influenceexplorer.com
- data.gov http://ethics.data.gov
- Legistorm http://www.legistorm.com
- Center for Responsive Politics http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/
- Campaign Finance FEC http://www.fec.gov/disclosure.shtml
Corporation Research
- ICIJ Panama Papers-Offshore Leaks Databases http://offshoreleaks.icij.org/search
- Investigative Dashboard (OCCRP) http://www.investigativedashboard.org/
- OpenCorporates https://opencorporates.com
- Building database: Emporis http://www.emporis.com/buildings
- Commercial real estate: LoopNet http://www.loopnet.com
Non-Profits/Charities
- Guidestar US Form 990s http://www.guidestar.org
- Luke Rosiak’s Citizen Audit https://www.citizenaudit.org
- ProPublica Non-profit Explorer http://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/
- org http://opencharities.org/
- Global Think Tank Directory http://www.gotothinktank.com/
Data and Statistics
- World Bank data http://data.worldbank.org/
- Official Statistics on the Web http://www.offstats.auckland.ac.nz
- Population Reference Bureau DataFinder http://prb.org/datafinder.aspx
FOIAs, leaks and deletes
- Secret Catalogue: https://theintercept.com/2015/12/17/a-secret-catalogue-of-government-gear-for-spying-on-your-cellphone/
- Snowden Surveillance Archive https://snowdenarchive.cjfe.org/
- WikiLeaks http://www.wikileaks.org
- Public Intelligence http://publicintelligence.net/
- CyberCemetery defunct agencies http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/
- Internet Archive Wayback Machine http://www.archive.org and Save Page Now
National Archives
- Archives I and Archives II and Presidential Libraries www.archives.gov
- CREST https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/collection/crest-25-year-program-archive
- Archival Databases http://aad.archives.gov/aad/
More Document Collections
- National Security Archive http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/
- Hathi Trust Digital Library http://catalog.hathitrust.org/
- Document Cloud http://www.documentcloud.org
Resource updates
- Gary Price: InfoDocket http://www.infodocket.com @InfoDocket
- Toddington Free OSINT Resources http://toddington.com/resources/
- PIBuzz (Tamara Thompson) http://pibuzz.com
Paul Myers ResearchClinic http://researchclinic.net
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Miranda Patrucic
Follow the Money Online Resources
Investigative Dashboard (contains links to over 350 company registers and over 2 million records)
http://www.investigativedashboard.org
Open Corporates
Orbis and Lexis-Nexis (paid but available through libraries)
Panama:
Cyprus:
https://efiling.drcor.mcit.gov.cy
Isle of Man:
https://services.gov.im/ded/services/companiesregistry/companysearch.iom
Hong Kong:
https://www.icris.cr.gov.hk/csci/
UK:
https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/
France (paid but you search by name for free):
https://www.infogreffe.fr/societes/recherche-dirigeant-entreprise/chercher-dirigeant-entreprise.html
Switzerland:
UK Court Records:
US Court Records:
Offshore Alert:
Visual Investigative Scenarios
Shipping Data:
http://panjiva.com
Datamyne has more countries than Panjiva, including the EU, Japan, S. Korea and S. Africa
http://www.datamyne.com/
ImportGenius says it has info on every shipment entering the US.
http://www.ImportGenius.com