Intelligence Policy and the Science of Intelligence

Abstract

Intelligence policy must protect the security of intelligence sources, and the privacy of individuals. We have moved away from a world in which the most important information was secret, and was very hard to collect. Today there is a lot of valuable information that is available open source, and provides key context for intelligence analysis. At the same time, a scientific focus is needed to define the missing elements, so that they can be collected. Moving away from the “vacuum cleaner” approach will improve intelligence operations and, at the same time, solve many of the most difficult issues of privacy of citizens and security of sources.