# Human Sensor **Entity class:** Analytic metaphor **Domain:** Intelligence collection / public safety ## Definition A **human sensor** is a person whose observation becomes an input to an institutional information system. The phrase can describe a trained officer, source, liaison, occupational reporter, or member of the public, but it does not define employment, agency, authority, reliability, or legal status. The metaphor is useful only when the reporting chain preserves source identity or anonymity rules, provenance, uncertainty, corroboration, and the distinction between observation and inference. ## Relationships - **reporting mechanism:** [[wiki/Suspicious Activity Reporting|Suspicious Activity Reporting]]. - **human-source discipline:** [[wiki/HUMINT|HUMINT]]. - **architecture:** [[wiki/Distributed Human-Sensor and Reporting Ecology|Distributed Human-Sensor and Reporting Ecology]]. - **measurement limit:** [[wiki/Intelligence Participation Headcount|Intelligence Participation Headcount]]. ## Sources / Provenance - [GAO — Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative, March 13, 2013](https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-13-233) - [DHS — What Is Suspicious Activity?, accessed September 23, 2026](https://www.dhs.gov/see-something-say-something/what-suspicious-activity)