Separating Source From Content
Early in the collection process, the specific identity of the source is removed from reports, to protect clandestine sources from being discovered. A basic model is to separate the raw material into three parts:
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- True source identity; very closely held
- Pseudonyms, cryptonyms, or other identifier(s)
- All the reports from the source
Since the consumer will need some idea of the source quality, it is not uncommon, in the intelligence community, to have several variants on the source identifier. For the highest level, the source might be described as "a person with access to the exact words of cabinet meetings." At the next lower level of sensitivity, a more general description could be "a source with good knowledge of the discussions in cabinet meetings." Going down a level, the description gets even broader, as "a generally reliable source familiar with thinking in high levels of the government."
Read more about this topic: Intelligence Collection Management
Famous quotes containing the words separating, source and/or content:
“I have reached no conclusions, have erected no boundaries,
shutting out and shutting in, separating inside
from outside: I have
drawn no lines:”
—Archie Randolph Ammons (b. 1926)
“It is thus tolerance that is the source of peace, and intolerance that is the source of disorder and squabbling.”
—Pierre Bayle (1647–1706)
“Nature is, after all, the only book that offers important content on every page.”
—Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749–1832)