Since 2017, the Cambridge Digital Verification Corps (DVC) has mobilised student volunteers to support frontline investigations through the application of open-source intelligence (OSINT). Through our collaboration with Amnesty International and the Centre of Governance and Human Rights (CGHR), the DVC transforms publicly-available digital content into actionable evidence that promotes human rights and international accountability.
In this termly report, our newest investigators reflect on their first months with the team, offering a practical insight into the group’s investigative workflow in action. It outlines the key stages of a DVC investigation, from discovery and verification to analysis, while providing researchers with the opportunity to present their findings in the style of an investigative report.
The findings presented here are not exhaustive or determinative. Rather, we document allegations of police violence in Türkiye as an example of the DVC’s research focus, highlighting their human rights implications where appropriate. Through a detailed case study, the report aims to demonstrate how user-generated content is verified and transformed into deployable open-source intelligence. In line with the Berkeley Protocol on Digital Open Source Investigations, all material was collected exclusively from publicly accessible sources; information that members of the public can lawfully observe, purchase, or request.1
Edited by Tomos Davies, DVC Coordinator 2025-2026
Contributors: Anoushka Johar, Johanna Kosak, Cathryn Lewis, Emily Ludlam, Ella Thomas and Shelley Y.
With thanks to all 30 student investigators who give their time freely to the Cambridge DVC and made this report possible.
1 https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/2024-01/OHCHR_BerkeleyProtocol.pdf