Open Source Research and Public Interest Technology at Bellingcat | Bellingcat's Online Open Source Investigation Toolkit: https://bellingcat.gitbook.io/toolkithttps://bsky.app/profile/johannawild.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/johannawild.bsky.social/post/3mvawcfdzqk2eDoes your employer offer a training budget you haven't used yet this year? We at Bellingcat are starting our workshop season with a fresh list of webinars. Topics include advanced satellite imagery techniques, tracking organised crime and many more. Full workshop list: www.bellingcat.com/workshops/ https://www.bellingcat.com/workshops/11 Sep 2026 15:52 +0000at://did:plc:7toxvqbz26hzfdeepgynspbc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvawcfdzqk2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/johannawild.bsky.social/post/3mj5etjrd522gThe @journalismfestival.com is right around the corner. As always, the 2026 programme includes a range of sessions that are particularly relevant for (aspiring) open source researchers. Here is an overview of sessions you shouldn’t miss: t1p.de/mod4u. Most sessions are also live-streamed. https://t1p.de/mod4u10 Apr 2026 12:59 +0000at://did:plc:7toxvqbz26hzfdeepgynspbc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mj5etjrd522ghttps://bsky.app/profile/johannawild.bsky.social/post/3mhgouic5wc2zGrep allows users to search the contents of public GitHub repositories. Sometimes, you may find e-mail addresses or other interesting snippets of information hidden within code. Learn more in @bellingcat.com's Online Investigation Toolkit: https://bellingcat.gitbook.io/toolkit/more/all-tools/grep.app19 Mar 2026 19:02 +0000at://did:plc:7toxvqbz26hzfdeepgynspbc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhgouic5wc2zhttps://bsky.app/profile/johannawild.bsky.social/post/3mhax2wlydk2qUrlscan lets you analyse suspicious websites without directly interacting with them. You can also use the tool to look into signals that potentially connect individual sites to coordinated networks. Learn more in @bellingcat.com's Online Investigation Toolkit: https://bellingcat.gitbook.io/toolkit/more/all-tools/urlscan.io https://Urlscan.io17 Mar 2026 12:13 +0000at://did:plc:7toxvqbz26hzfdeepgynspbc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhax2wlydk2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/johannawild.bsky.social/post/3m6p5fq32wc2cThe World Database on Protected and Conserved Areas is a comprehensive global database of marine and terrestrial protected areas. We just added it to @bellingcat.com's Online Investigation Toolkit: https://bellingcat.gitbook.io/toolkit/more/all-tools/world-database-protected-areas28 Nov 2025 14:56 +0000at://did:plc:7toxvqbz26hzfdeepgynspbc/app.bsky.feed.post/3m6p5fq32wc2chttps://bsky.app/profile/johannawild.bsky.social/post/3m4sr2yfrsk24Face Comparison by ToolPie is one of several tools that allows researchers to compare faces. We don’t know who is behind this tool, so please consider carefully whether you want to use it. Bonny Albo tested it for @bellingcat.com's Online Investigation Toolkit: https://bellingcat.gitbook.io/toolkit/more/all-tools/face-comparison-toolpie04 Nov 2025 14:36 +0000at://did:plc:7toxvqbz26hzfdeepgynspbc/app.bsky.feed.post/3m4sr2yfrsk24https://bsky.app/profile/johannawild.bsky.social/post/3m4iv26ua322cPublicWWW is a source code search engine. Open source researchers can use it to identify possible links between different websites. Learn more in @bellingcat.com's Online Investigation Toolkit. https://bellingcat.gitbook.io/toolkit/more/all-tools/publicwww #OpenSourceResearch31 Oct 2025 16:21 +0000at://did:plc:7toxvqbz26hzfdeepgynspbc/app.bsky.feed.post/3m4iv26ua322chttps://bsky.app/profile/johannawild.bsky.social/post/3lv4ojgylb22xWhat3words is a geocode system which identifies any location on the surface of the earth to a resolution of 3 metres. You don’t need to use it yourself but open source researchers should be aware of its existence. Learn more in @bellingcat.com's Toolkit: https://bellingcat.gitbook.io/toolkit/more/all-tools/what3words29 Jul 2025 17:55 +0000at://did:plc:7toxvqbz26hzfdeepgynspbc/app.bsky.feed.post/3lv4ojgylb22xhttps://bsky.app/profile/johannawild.bsky.social/post/3lukon4f5tc2gDo you already know Navtex? It’s a historical database providing warnings and maritime safety information to ships. It can also be useful for open source researchers. Learn more about the site in @bellingcat.com's Online Investigation Toolkit: https://bellingcat.gitbook.io/toolkit/more/all-tools/navtex22 Jul 2025 14:10 +0000at://did:plc:7toxvqbz26hzfdeepgynspbc/app.bsky.feed.post/3lukon4f5tc2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/johannawild.bsky.social/post/3lsefbskyzk2hSearch4Faces lets you upload a photo of a face and search for visually similar faces. It scans photos from VK, Odnoklassniki, and TikTok. ⚠️ The tool provider' identity is unknown. Learn more about the tool in @bellingcat.com's Online Investigation Toolkit: https://bellingcat.gitbook.io/toolkit/more/all-tools/search4faces24 Jun 2025 15:16 +0000at://did:plc:7toxvqbz26hzfdeepgynspbc/app.bsky.feed.post/3lsefbskyzk2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/johannawild.bsky.social/post/3lrg4q2j6ac2nWould you like to learn how to track ships? Discover how to use ShipFinder: https://bellingcat.gitbook.io/toolkit/more/all-tools/shipfinder. We also compare ShipFinder to other ship tracking sites, helping you choose the best tool for your research #OpenSourceResearch12 Jun 2025 14:23 +0000at://did:plc:7toxvqbz26hzfdeepgynspbc/app.bsky.feed.post/3lrg4q2j6ac2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/johannawild.bsky.social/post/3lquosz2mic26If you are interested in researching China-related topics, consider exploring Tencent Maps. Learn how to use this Chinese mapping service (also from outside of China) in @bellingcat.com ’s Online Investigation Toolkit: https://bellingcat.gitbook.io/toolkit/more/all-tools/tencent-maps #OpenSourceResearch05 Jun 2025 15:59 +0000at://did:plc:7toxvqbz26hzfdeepgynspbc/app.bsky.feed.post/3lquosz2mic26https://bsky.app/profile/johannawild.bsky.social/post/3lqrjsjmfbk26The EU has imposed sanctions on a range of countries and individuals. Open source researchers can use the EU Sanctions Map to find out who is affected. Learn more about the site in @bellingcat.com's Online Investigation Toolkit: https://bellingcat.gitbook.io/toolkit/more/all-tools/eu-sanctions-map #OpenSourceResearch04 Jun 2025 09:51 +0000at://did:plc:7toxvqbz26hzfdeepgynspbc/app.bsky.feed.post/3lqrjsjmfbk26https://bsky.app/profile/johannawild.bsky.social/post/3lqpcdaoyh222Check out Bulletpicker - an online database with technical manuals, schematics, and detailed guidebooks of ordnance and explosive items from various armed forces around the world. More in @bellingcat.com's Online Investigation Toolkit by @afko.bsky.social: https://bellingcat.gitbook.io/toolkit/more/all-tools/bulletpicker.com03 Jun 2025 12:32 +0000at://did:plc:7toxvqbz26hzfdeepgynspbc/app.bsky.feed.post/3lqpcdaoyh222https://bsky.app/profile/johannawild.bsky.social/post/3lqespcgaos2nFrom researching on Telegram to analyzing satellite imagery, the @journalismfestival.com offers free online recordings from past events. I have compiled a list of sessions that focus on, or are related to, open source research methods: t1p.de/mod4u. #OpenSourceResearch https://t1p.de/mod4u30 May 2025 08:26 +0000at://did:plc:7toxvqbz26hzfdeepgynspbc/app.bsky.feed.post/3lqespcgaos2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/johannawild.bsky.social/post/3lq5elbg56s2lIdentifying birds that are visible in photos or audible in audio or video recordings can sometimes provide important clues when doing geolocations. Learn more about the bird identification tool Merlin in @bellingcat.com's Open Source Investigation Toolkit: https://bellingcat.gitbook.io/toolkit/more/all-tools/merlin27 May 2025 09:24 +0000at://did:plc:7toxvqbz26hzfdeepgynspbc/app.bsky.feed.post/3lq5elbg56s2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/johannawild.bsky.social/post/3lq3lk3m7f22wChina provides several map services that can be useful for open source researchers. Gaode Maps is one of them. Conveniently, it is also accessible to people based outside of China. Have a look at @bellingcat.com's Online Investigation Toolkit to learn more: https://bellingcat.gitbook.io/toolkit/more/all-tools/gaode-maps26 May 2025 16:24 +0000at://did:plc:7toxvqbz26hzfdeepgynspbc/app.bsky.feed.post/3lq3lk3m7f22whttps://bsky.app/profile/johannawild.bsky.social/post/3lq3lihnq622wChina provides several map services that can be useful for open source researchers. Gaode Maps is one of them. Conveniently, it is also accessible to people based outside of China. Have a look at @bellingcat.com's Online Investigation Toolkit to learn more: https://bellingcat.gitbook.io/toolkit/more/all-tools/gaode-maps26 May 2025 16:23 +0000at://did:plc:7toxvqbz26hzfdeepgynspbc/app.bsky.feed.post/3lq3lihnq622whttps://bsky.app/profile/johannawild.bsky.social/post/3lpooqjfm4c22Baidu Maps is one of those tools everyone has heard of, but few open source researchers actually know how to use. Learn more about Baidu Maps in @bellingcat.com's Online Investigation Toolkit: https://bellingcat.gitbook.io/toolkit/more/all-tools/baidu-maps #OpenSourceResearch21 May 2025 13:16 +0000at://did:plc:7toxvqbz26hzfdeepgynspbc/app.bsky.feed.post/3lpooqjfm4c22https://bsky.app/profile/johannawild.bsky.social/post/3lpjvouamk222Did you ever struggle to estimate the number of people in a crowd? MapChecking can help with this task. Learn more about the tool in @bellingcat.com's Online Investigation Toolkit by @afko.bsky.social: https://bellingcat.gitbook.io/toolkit/more/all-tools/mapchecking #OpenSourceResearch19 May 2025 15:37 +0000at://did:plc:7toxvqbz26hzfdeepgynspbc/app.bsky.feed.post/3lpjvouamk222https://bsky.app/profile/johannawild.bsky.social/post/3lp32ka3j4c25PimEyes allows users to upload photos of faces in order to search the internet for pictures of people who look similar. Learn more about the tool in Bellingcat’s Online Investigation Toolkit: https://bellingcat.gitbook.io/toolkit/more/all-tools/pimeyes by @anisashabir.bsky.social #OpenSourceResearch13 May 2025 17:54 +0000at://did:plc:7toxvqbz26hzfdeepgynspbc/app.bsky.feed.post/3lp32ka3j4c25https://bsky.app/profile/johannawild.bsky.social/post/3lmzi65hlis2gNew to flight tracking? Our Flightradar24 toolkit guide by teaches you everything you need to know about the site, including when (not) to use it: https://bellingcat.gitbook.io/toolkit/more/all-tools/flightradar24. Written by @afko.bsky.social for @bellingcat.com's Online Investigation Toolkit.17 Apr 2025 16:02 +0000at://did:plc:7toxvqbz26hzfdeepgynspbc/app.bsky.feed.post/3lmzi65hlis2g