# Bellingcat **Entity class:** Organization or company **Domain:** Data Markets ## Definition Investigative organization using open sources, verification, geolocation, and collaborative research. The article uses its public investigations as an example of disciplined civilian tradecraft producing useful accounts of events. ## Operational role Commercial data supplies the collection and enrichment layers of a modern intelligence pipeline. Acquisition, licensing, identity linkage, timestamps, and API delivery determine how a supplier’s records become a client’s usable information. Procurement fluency matters because each technical gate also creates a professional role or a business requirement. **Architecture connections:** [[wiki/OSINT|OSINT]] · [[wiki/Entity Resolution|Entity Resolution]] · [[wiki/Intelligence Fusion|Intelligence Fusion]]. ## Relationships - **article-linked mechanism or framework:** [[wiki/OSINT|OSINT]]. - **article-linked mechanism or framework:** [[wiki/Private Citizen Tradecraft|Private Citizen Tradecraft]]. - **collection route:** [[collections/The Civilian Intelligence Marketplace|The Civilian Intelligence Marketplace]]. - **counterterrorism architecture:** [[collections/Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and the Intelligence Environment|Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and the Intelligence Environment]]. - **source article:** [[articles/The Coming Market for Civilian Spycraft|The Coming Market for Civilian Spycraft]]. ## Sources / Provenance - [[articles/The Coming Market for Civilian Spycraft#VI. The Open-Source Substrate: When the Public Web Becomes Intelligence Material|The Coming Market for Civilian Spycraft — VI. The Open-Source Substrate: When the Public Web Becomes Intelligence Material]] — October 2026 revision; immediate source for this entry’s place in the marketplace. - [ICFJ, Fundamentals of Open-Source Intelligence for Journalists.](https://www.icfj.org/news/fundamentals-open-source-intelligence-journalists)