Introducing MarcoAnalytica
From a seed-stage data aggregator to a full investigations & technology company
TL;DR — We’re evolving into a research-and-investigations organization with an engineering backbone. We’ll publish open articles, explainers, and living wikis for the public—plus member-only dossiers, watch feeds, datasets, and real-time alerts. We’ll preserve our proprietary tooling and technologies under the same ownership and harden them for investigative use. We call our subject areas Watches (not “verticals”): Narcowatch, QudsWatch, HomelandWatch, and Sahara/MaghrebWatch. Secure tip channels (ProtonMail, Signal, Threema) are coming soon; this site is not an encrypted portal yet.
1) Why we’re changing — and what stays the same
We began as a seed-stage technology and data aggregation project. That work gave us collectors and pipelines capable of capturing public records, court dockets, sanctions lists, procurement trails, satellite/aerial imagery, and open-source media. It also convinced us of a bigger obligation: turning raw, multi-source material into clear, public-interest intelligence that doesn’t buckle under scrutiny.
What’s changing
We now operate as a full-spectrum investigations company with an engineering core—a newsroom discipline paired with purpose-built software.
We will publish open and member outputs: open articles and living wikis for everyone; member-only dossiers, datasets, watch feeds, and real-time alerts for practitioners who need depth and timeliness.
We’ll accept tips and confidential material in a structured way (with verification before publication).
Note: This page is not an encrypted portal and tips are not accepted here yet. We’ll post our ProtonMail, Signal, and Threema details soon, with safety guidance.
What’s staying the same
All proprietary tooling and technologies built under the prior organization are preserved under the same ownership.
We’re expanding those tools for investigative use: better provenance, stronger audit trails, improved entity resolution, and more careful red-teaming.
2) What MarcoAnalytica makes
We’re focused on usable intelligence, not just interesting stories.
Output | Open to All | Members | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
Articles & Explainers | ✅ | Plain-language, fully footnoted, with source packets where possible. | |
Living Wikis & Timelines | ✅ | Updated as facts evolve; clear revision history and citations. | |
Actor & Network Profiles | ✅ | Cross-referenced entities, geographies, and events. | |
Dossiers (Deep Reports) | ✅ | Structured backgrounders with methodology and confidence notes. | |
Watch Feeds | ✅ | Always-on monitoring per Watch; change logs and thresholds. | |
Datasets / Source Packets | ✅ | Cleaned data, schemas, and capture notes where safe/ethical. | |
Real-Time Alerts | ✅ | Triggered by material changes; rate-limited to cut noise. |
3) Our method (how we minimize error)
Collection → Preservation → Verification → Analysis → Publication → Monitoring
Collection — Public records, court dockets, sanctions & corporate registries, geo/media, and credible reports.
Preservation — Hashes, mirrors, and metadata hygiene to maintain provenance.
Verification — Multi-source corroboration, chain-of-custody for sensitive media, red-team review when warranted.
Analysis — Entity resolution, network mapping, timelines, and counter-hypothesis testing.
Publication — Plain-language summaries, footnotes, and uncertainty labels.
Monitoring — Watch feeds and alert thresholds for material changes.
Confidence labels (how we express certainty)
Confirmed — Verified by documents/primary sources and independent corroboration.
Likely — Strong evidence with minor gaps or reliance on trusted but indirect sources.
Uncertain — Early indicators or partial data; more corroboration pending.
Incorrect / Retracted — We’ll correct openly, explain the error, and update archives.
4) Our Watches (coverage programs)
We avoid the term “verticals.” These Watches are living programs—each with its scope, questions, and outputs. Below you’ll find why we care, what we’ll track, and what we’ll publish.
4.1 NarcoWatch — Organized crime & cartel ecosystems
Why this matters: Transnational criminal networks shape economies, governance, and public safety. Their logistics intersect with corruption, finance, and border security. Understanding cartels requires systems thinking—routes, brokers, shell companies, front businesses, and state capture risks.
What we’ll track
Flows & routes — Trafficking corridors (land, sea, air), modal shifts, interdiction pressure.
Actors & affiliates — Front companies, enablers, logistics providers, and financial facilitators.
Enforcement & policy — Sanctions, indictments, extraditions, seizures, territorial control signals.
Market signals — Purity/price changes, precursor sourcing, novel concealment methods.
Outputs
Open: Explainers, network primers, route timelines, and document packets.
Members: Dossiers on networks and brokers, watch feeds on seizures/indictments, and alerts for material shifts (e.g., supply chain reroutes).
Key questions
What logistics bottlenecks or policy shocks are changing routes?
Which facilitators keep reappearing across cases and jurisdictions?
Where are state-linked vulnerabilities enabling organized crime?
4.2 QudsWatch — Quds Force, Iranian state apparatus & regional dynamics
Why this matters: The IRGC-QF’s relationships with proxies and partners affect conflicts, covert supply chains, and regional security architectures. Procurement paths, training, finance, and influence operations are central to understanding risk.
What we’ll track
Procurement & logistics — Components, smuggling corridors, maritime/overland nodes.
Partner networks — Training, finance, and command-and-control signals.
Legal & sanctions posture — New designations, enforcement trends, court dockets.
Information operations — Narratives, amplification patterns, media infrastructure.
Outputs
Open: Explainers with source maps; profiles of key organizations and channels.
Members: Dossiers on procurement routes, partner matrices, trigger-based alerts on material escalations or enforcement moves.
Key questions
How do procurement patterns change under sanctions pressure?
Which narratives signal mobilization or cover for logistics?
What enforcement actions actually degrade capability vs. shift it elsewhere?
4.3 HomelandWatch — Domestic security, extremism & critical infrastructure
Why this matters: Domestic threats evolve alongside digital ecosystems, legal frameworks, and critical infrastructure risks. Evidence-based reporting can lower panic and raise clarity.
What we’ll track
Actors & ecosystems — Ideological clusters, cross-pollination, recruitment vectors.
Infrastructure risks — Targeting patterns, physical/digital vulnerabilities, response capacity.
Legal & policy changes — Court decisions, rulemaking, enforcement shifts.
Disinformation pipelines — Claims, amplification routes, monetization links.
Outputs
Open: Plain-language guides to threat models, court-case timelines, explainers on legal thresholds.
Members: Watch feeds on incidents and policy moves, alerts when threshold conditions are met, and dossiers on ecosystems or methodologies.
Key questions
Which signals precede escalation from rhetoric to action?
Which infrastructure sectors are most exposed to emerging MO (methods of operation)?
How do legal changes alter enforcement or reporting practices?
4.4 Sahara/MaghrebWatch — Conflict economies & smuggling across North/West Africa
Why this matters: Smuggling corridors, conflict economies, and state/para-state actors across the Sahara and Maghreb influence migration, border control, and regional stability. Networks overlap with other geographies and global markets.
What we’ll track
Corridors & crossings — Overland routes, maritime departures, transshipment hubs.
Conflict economy signals — Resource control, taxation/extortion patterns, armed group shifts.
State/para-state links — Patronage, security services, and local governance interactions.
External shocks — Coups, sanctions, and climate-driven disruptions.
Outputs
Open: Route explainers, actor profiles, historical timelines with maps.
Members: Network dossiers, commodity flow analyses, and alerts on corridor disruptions.
Key questions
Where are new choke points forming, and who benefits?
What local governance dynamics shape cooperation or conflict along routes?
How do global demand and regional policy rewire incentives?
5) How we’ll publish: open access + member depth (not only open-source)
We believe in public-interest access and in sustaining investigative work.
Open for everyone — Articles, explainers, wikis, timelines, actor profiles.
Member-only — Dossiers, cleaned datasets, watch feeds, and real-time alerts for material changes.
Exclusive reporting — Certain findings or data drops will be member-exclusive once verified to protect sources or investigative advantage.
No launch dates are included here; programs will roll out progressively as we meet our verification standards.
6) Independence, safety, and ethics
Editorial independence
No external political directives; no advertiser capture over editorial.
Evidence sets the agenda; we publish when claims are defensible, not merely viral.
Legal & safety posture
We follow the law, minimize harm, and withhold sensitive operational details where publication could cause harm.
We accept confidential material when our secure channels are live and only publish after independent verification.
Corrections
We correct the record openly. Corrections and retractions are logged with time, reason, and what changed.
7) Technology we’re preserving (and hardening)
We’re carrying forward the proprietary stack we built—under the same ownership—and strengthening it for investigations:
Collectors & Recorders — Public records, sanctions, corporate registries, procurement trails, and cross-language sources.
Media Preservation — Hashing, mirroring, metadata hygiene; chain-of-custody for sensitive items.
Entity Resolution & Networks — People, organizations, fronts, and aliases across jurisdictions.
Timelines & Maps — Geospatial context and chronologies for repeatable analysis.
Alerting — Threshold rules that emphasize material change and suppress noise.
We’ll document methods wherever safe; some components will remain private when sensitivity demands it.
8) Who this is for
Investigative reporters & editors — Source packets, timelines, and network scaffolding.
Analysts & researchers — Cleaned datasets, provenance, and traceable claims.
Policy & compliance teams — Clear explainers, documented sourcing, and alerts.
Concerned readers — Plain-language context with honest uncertainty notes.
9) What you can expect next (without dates)
Watches will come online progressively as their baselines, source packets, and alert thresholds clear review.
Tipline secure channels (ProtonMail, Signal, Threema) with detailed safety guidance.
Member experience for dossiers, datasets, watch feeds, and alert preferences.
Transparency pages covering methods, corrections, and our labeling scheme.
Again: this site is not an encrypted portal yet. Please do not submit sensitive tips via the general contact form. We’ll publish secure options soon.
10) FAQ (selected)
Are you only open-source?
No. We combine open materials with confidential tips, interviews, and exclusive analysis. Public-interest guides are open; deeper dossiers and alerts are for members.
What do you do when sources conflict?
We trace each claim to documents/data, conduct counter-hypothesis testing, and publish confidence labels with uncertainty notes.
How do I share a tip?
Secure channels will be posted soon (ProtonMail, Signal, Threema) with safety guidance. Until then, do not send sensitive info here.
Can organizations request bespoke research?
Yes—case-by-case, aligned with our independence standards and legal constraints.
11) Join us / Support the work
Subscribe to open updates.
Become a member for dossiers, datasets, watch feeds, and alerts.
Work with us — we’re assembling a careful, small team across research, reporting, fact-checking/editing, audio, and briefings.
Send a tip (once secure channels are live) with clear expectations about verification and publication.
Final word
We’re building clarity at the pace of rigor. The goal isn’t to win the timeline war; it’s to produce findings that practitioners can trust weeks or months from now—because the sources, methods, and caveats were visible from the start.
If you value that kind of work, we’d love to have you reading, supporting, and—soon—contributing safely.