Summary

Careful note taking is important to track details of your investigations and statuses, and create evidence as to the good faith and legal nature of your investigations.

What to Maintain

• Master Case Tracker

  • Central spreadsheet logging all active cases

• Individual Case Files

  • OSINT intelligence

  • Physical addresses

  • Social media profiles/accounts

  • Linked businesses or entities

  • Additional relevant data points

• Investigation Notes

  • Personal assessment of likely perpetrators

  • Persons of interest (e.g., possible order placers or operators)

• Export-Ready Versions

  • Clean/simplified case summary for law enforcement or media submission

  • Full detailed case file for internal tracking and analysis

• Communication Templates

  • Populated contact/message templates for each case

Storage Recommentations

Standard online document platforms (sufficient for this use case)

• Google Docs

• Word Online (via OneDrive)

Optional encrypted storage (if preferred, not mandatory)

• Proton Drive

High-level encryption is not essential for these records, unless personally desired.

If storing data exclusively offline, ensure your operating system is encrypted and you have suitable backups in place.

If you are comfortable doing so, please share appropriate versions of your investigation files with the central team.

Best Practices

• Use one row per case in the master spreadsheet

• Keep case files consistent in structure for easier exporting

• Clearly separate facts vs. personal analysis

• Update files in real time as new data arrives

• Avoid storing sensitive info you cannot verify or justify

• Keep comprehensive information on any party you share the data with! The police and courts need to prove chain of custody of the data!