***This webinar requires prerequisite knowledge of the command line and programming. ***

This is an Intermediate Scraping Webinar taking place on December 12, 2025, 9 am – 1 pm EST (New York)/ 3 – 7pm CET (Amsterdam).

This webinar will give attendees both theoretical knowledge and practical experience of scraping websites and analyzing scraped data. It will cover several different approaches to scraping and data access, including real case studies from Bellingcat research, and hands-on exercises designed to explore and address the challenges faced by open source researchers.

This webinar is for individuals with a working knowledge of computer programming and using the command line (for running scripts and software). Participants should be comfortable with the basics of running and reading Python code, though expertise is not required.

This webinar will cover:

• Scraping social media websites (such as Telegram and Instagram) and non-social media websites;
• Understanding the relationship between scraping and API access;
• Discovering and reverse-engineering undocumented APIs;
• Extracting data when there is no API;
• Uncovering stories from scraped data and metadata, using data analysis tools in Python.

If you would like to register, please follow the link: https://gist.github.com/GalenReich/b795e41b456d93224be9d1d957dcf69f

This script will retrieve the registration link to the webinar. To ensure every participant gets the most out of the training, we require that everyone is familiar with the very basics of Python (configuring an environment, installing packages, running scripts).

By being able to run this script (using Python version 3.x) and getting the correct webinar link, you’re demonstrating that you meet those requirements.

If you have no idea what a Python environment is, or how to run this script, don’t worry! We offer beginner-level programming and command-line webinars too.

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Screening

We manually approve all applications after registration on Eventzilla. We do basic due diligence checks on our participants to be sure that our trainers and other participants are comfortable with their participation. Members of any military or intelligence service are not permitted registration at our workshops, and we allow government employees only on a case-by-case basis. We also restrict access to our workshops from members of police forces, but make some exceptions depending on participants’ areas of responsibilities.

For example, in past workshops, we have approved the participation of government employees working on issues around election integrity and security. We very rarely approve members of police forces, but have made some limited exceptions for those working on issues of child exploitation and trafficking.

The vast majority of participants are approved without any issues.

Payment Note

If we approve your participation you have to continue with your registration in Eventzilla. In case you select credit card or Paypal, you must complete payment when you start the process. Otherwise, Eventzilla will lock you out and we will have to manually delete and restart your registration. Wait to open the payment tab until you have your card or PayPal information ready to go!

Alternatively, you can choose “bank transfer” and pay later — many of our participants being sponsored by their employers choose this option.

You can find more information about our trainings and webinars in the event descriptions on Eventzilla, including an agenda for each workshop.

Cancellation

Please look closely at our cancellation policy before you register:

– You will be registered as a participant only after we have received full payment of the workshop fee;

– If you cancel your registration up to one week before the start of the workshop, you will be refunded the total workshop fee, minus EUR 25 (+ VAT and fees) (administrative costs);

– If you cancel within six to two days before the start of the workshop, you will be reimbursed 50% of the workshop fee. If we are able to replace you with a waiting list candidate, then the total fee (minus EUR 25 (+ VAT and fees) administrative costs) will be refunded. as described on the workshop Eventzilla registration page before you register.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I receive a certificate for the workshops?

Sure! Just email us ([email protected]) before or after the workshops, and we’ll send you a PDF certificate showing participation after the training is completed.

Can I receive a recording of a workshop?

We do not record our workshops, or allow others to record them. However, we do provide copies of our training slides to participants after the completion of the training for their personal reference.

Who usually attends your workshops?

We have around 20-25 participants per workshop, and among those between a third to a half come from private companies or the corporate world. Among those, we have plenty of information security researchers, corporate security investigators, lawyers, due diligence experts, and other professions. Journalists are the next-most popular profession for our workshops (around a fourth or third of participants), and then we have a mix of human rights/NGO researchers, academics and students, and even retirees just curious about what this whole OSINT thing is all about.

Can I gift a workshop seat to someone else?

Sure! We have had quite a few people buy workshop attendance for a loved one as a birthday or Christmas gift. Just let us know the name of the person who you are buying the seat for when registration so that we can do a basic due diligence check on them (see the Screening section up above). Feel free to email us at [email protected] to make sure we have their proper contact details so they get all of the invitation information on time.

**Solve the task to register here: **https://gist.github.com/GalenReich/b795e41b456d93224be9d1d957dcf69f

This script will retrieve the registration link to the webinar. To ensure every participant gets the most out of the training, we require that everyone is familiar with the very basics of Python (configuring an environment, installing packages, running scripts).

Our other online workshops for September- December 2025 include:

• September 30, 2025, 9 am – 1 pm EDT (New York) / 3 – 7 pm CEST (Amsterdam): Command line tools for open source researchers (for absolute beginners) – 4 hour webinar

Important note: This webinar is suitable for people who have never used the command line of their computer before. If you are familiar with the terminal, we recommend you join the Intermediate Scraping workshops we organise.

• October 7 – 10, 2025, 10 am – 2 pm CEST (Amsterdam): 16-hour online training, the full experience (a verification course and course in social media & individual-focused research)
• October 10, 2025, 9 am – 1 pm EDT (New York) / 3 – 7 pm CEST (Amsterdam)**: **4h webinar, which focuses on conducting research on the Russian-language Internet (RuNet)

Please note: a basic reading knowledge of the Russian language is strongly recommended!

• October 14 – 17, 2025, 11 am – 3 pm EDT (New York) / 5 – 9 pm CEST (Amsterdam): 16-hour online training, the full experience (a verification course and course in social media & individual-focused research)
• October 28 – 31, 2025, 9 am – 1 pm EDT (New York) / 2 – 6 pm CET (Amsterdam): 16-hour online training, the full experience (a verification course and course in social media & individual-focused research)
• November 25 – 28, 2025, 10 am – 2 pm CET (Amsterdam): 16-hour online training, the full experience (a verification course and course in social media & individual-focused research)
• December 11, 2025, 9 am – 1 pm EST (New York) / 3 – 7 pm CET (Amsterdam): 4h Flight Tracking Webinar. This workshop focuses on the terminology, tools and methods necessary to track aircraft using open sources.

If you have any questions, feel free to send us an email at [email protected].

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