A library consortium privacy officer asks whether reviewing a contract cataloger's public LinkedIn profile for a vendor-conflict check is OSINT or spying. What is the correct judgment?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation.
Short Explanation
Reading a flyer taped in the shop window is not hiding in the back office. A public professional profile is an open source when the library has a legitimate vendor-conflict task. The method stays public-source review, not covert watching.
Full Explanation
Public professional profiles are ordinary OSINT sources when collection serves an authorized civic purpose, such as a vendor-conflict check. Viewing what the cataloger has already published is not covert surveillance and does not become closed simply because a municipal employee opened the page. Friending the person under a deceptive identity is unnecessary for public content and crosses into social-engineering territory. The privacy officer's distinction is purpose plus public availability, not a ban on all professional-network review.