HUMINT, a syllabic abbreviation of the words HUMan INTelligence, is a category of intelligence gathering disciplines that encompasses all gathering of intelligence by means of interpersonal contact. NATO defines HUMINT as "A category of intelligence derived from information collected and provided by human sources."^[1] A syllabic abbreviation is an abbreviation formed from (usually) initial syllables of several words, such as Interpol = International + police. ... Intelligence (abbreviated or ) is the process and the result of gathering information and analyzing it to answer questions or obtain advance warnings needed to plan for the future. ... NATO 2002 Summit in Prague. ...

Most HUMINT activity does not involve clandestine or covert activities. The manner in which HUMINT operations are conducted is dictated by both official protocol and the nature of the source, who may be witting, unwitting, neutral, friendly or hostile. Examples of HUMINT sources include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Friendly forces (Military police, patrols, etc);
• Prisoners of War (POW) or detainees;
• Refugees;
• Civilians;
• Non-governmental organizations (NGOs);
• Media personnel/organizations;
• Covert/clandestine agents; and
• "Walk-ins." A walk-in refers to someone who approaches a friendly agency and volunteers to provide information on his/her own freewill.

It has been suggested that Gendarmerie be merged into this article or section. ... Geneva Convention definition A prisoner of war (POW) is a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. ... Detainee is neutral term used to indicate people held by a government, such as those it does not classify and treat as either prisoners of war or suspects in criminal cases. ... A civilian is a person who is not a member of a military. ... The term non-governmental organization (NGO) is used in a variety of ways all over the world and, depending on the context in which it is used, can refer to many different types of organizations. ... Espionage (spying) is a practice of obtaining information about an organization or a society that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. ...

See also

• COMINT: Communications intelligence
• SIGINT: Signals intelligence
• ELINT: Electronic intelligence
• IMINT: Imagery intelligence
• GEOINT: Geospatial Intelligence
• STRATINT: Strategic intelligence
• FININT: Financial intelligence
• RUMINT: Rumour intelligence (a tongue in cheek designation used by government officials)
• Secret agent
• Double agent
• List of intelligence gathering disciplines

SIGINT stands for SIGnals INTelligence, which is intelligence-gathering by interception of signals, whether by radio interception or other means. ... SIGINT stands for SIGnals INTelligence, which is intelligence-gathering by interception of signals, whether by radio interception or other means. ... ELINT stands for ELectronic INTelligence, and refers to intelligence-gathering by use of electronic sensors. ... IMINT, short for IMagery INTelligence, is an intelligence gathering discipline which collects information via satellite and aerial photography. ... GEOINT stands for GEOspatial INTelligence, which is intelligence-gathering by exploitation (analysis) of imagery and mapping data, whether collected by commercial satelite, government satelite or by other means. ... Financial Intelligence (or FININT) is the gathering of information about the financial affairs of entities of interest, to understand their nature and capabilities, and predict their intentions. ... Secret Agent is a 1936 British film directed by Alfred Hitchcock based on a novel by W. Somerset Maugham. ... A double agent pretends to spy on a target organization on behalf of a controlling organization, but in fact is loyal to the target organization. ... Intelligence Gathering Disciplines HUMINT - Human Intelligence - gathered from a person on the ground. ...

References