Supporting this effort

This repository tries to collect knowledge and experiences of an entire community of practice. The development of contents is led by the civil society organization SocialTIC, but the intention is that the materials accurately reflect the techniques and practices of analysts and researchers in the field; focusing throughout on particularities and considerations of applying forensics for the defense of human rights. Gathering and maintaining these collective learnings up to date requires a collective effort that, coincidentally, helps align the contents with the actual needs of the communities who consult them.

Through community contributions, we can:

• Detect, discuss and correct mistakes, gaps or omissions
• Update content to reflect new versions of tools or operating systems
• Suggest new topics, resources or structure learning paths
• Translate, localize or adapt materials to field needs
• Strengthen the project’s documentation and accessibility

Sharing and generating knowledge to catalyze the use of digital technologies—including their application to forensic science—is part of SocialTIC’s mission. This repository complements other capacity building activities we’ve carried out, where we have identified the need to provide additional resources to support the learning and application of forensic techniques.

Despite some valuable efforts in recent years, existing resources to train forensic analysts in civil society are still insufficient to meet the needs of at-risk communities—especially for labs in the global majority. This limitation, combined with the procedural and technical complexity of a forensic investigation, means that the vast majority of digital security incidents affecting Human Rights Defenders get no accountability at all.

Beyond these technical and procedural challenges, and in light of the difficult global context, at SocialTIC we believe that collaboration can empower helplines, analysts, trainers and digital security contacts with foundational knowledge that enables them to navigate the initial stages of a forensic investigation while adhering to best practices. Strengthening this baseline will foster deeper collaboration with more mature forensic laboratories, which in turn will positively impact the long-term ability to produce independent technical analysis.