There’s one investigator who always seems to know more than anybody else: Santa Claus. Only Santa can know when his target’s sleeping, when they’re awake, whether they’ve truly made the Nice List - and what gifts they want in return. But today’s Santa wouldn’t need elves, magic, or chimney-based reconnaissance to work out what your family wants under the tree. He’d just need OSINT.
With the sheer amount of personal information families share (often without even realising it), Santa could make a complete personal profile of even the tiniest family members. Favourite snacks or bedtime routines, he could find out anything.
This guide will show you how an OSINT Santa could gather intel on your family - and how to keep them safe from any naughty-listers that might not be so holly-jolly. We’ll also take a sleigh ride through the tricky topic of AI toys, with tips and techniques for staying OSINT secure.
What Is OSINT?: Festive Edition
If you’re reading this, you probably have a solid idea of what OSINT is: but here’s a festive themed refresher. OSINT (Open-Source Intelligence) is the practice of collecting and analysing publicly available information to draw conclusions.
The rest of the year, it’s usually the proviso of pro OSINT analysts - anyone from law enforcement agents, to undercover journalists, to amateur crimefighters, to HR departments sussing out the credentials of their latest hire. But for Christmas, there’s a new OSINT pro coming to town: Santa Claus.
Of course, we’re not claiming to have an actual hotline to the North Pole. But if Santa was using OSINT to write his gift list, he’d have everything he needs to know about each tiny target. During the holidays, people will unwittingly reveal all kinds of information online. Santa could scroll your (or your kids’):
- Social media posts
- Amazon wishlists
- Facebook Marketplace browsing
- Parenting forums
- Gaming and Discord profiles
- Photo and video metadata
- And - increasingly - AI-enabled toys.
Santa wouldn’t need the Naughty or Nice List anymore; he has all the details on Instagram. It’s easy to stitch together the scraps of open-source data your festive fun scatters across the internet. When you apply OSINT thinking to your holiday habits, it becomes alarmingly clear how much families reveal without meaning to.
From Wish Lists to Wrapped Gifts: How Santa Runs OSINT
Let’s imagine how a modern Santa would work. Instead of a workshop filled with elves, our red-coated OSINT investigator would rely on a platform filled with powerful modules - a magical system like OSINT Industries. Here’s how he gets his intel.
Social Media Footprints
As “sharenting” becomes a big thing, more and more parents are posting pictures, videos, and stories of their families online. Particularly on social media, it’s always been hard to find a feed without at least one baby picture. But now Santa would have swathes of SOCMINT data to start with: first-day-of-school posts, school plays, recital videos, sports schedules, photos showing bedroom décor, “what should I buy them?” threads…
All this should give him an idea of your kids’ identities: age, gender, favourite colours, and even the hobbies or characters they enjoy. He could even pick up some leads about their personalities, so he’ll also know whether they’ve been good enough to deserve a gift.
Online Marketplaces
So now Santa has a rough idea of who he’s buying for. But to get more details about the designated recipient, he could just mosey on over to Facebook for some Facebook Marketplace OSINT.
Marketplace browsing histories are often visibly connected to Facebook profiles, especially if you’ve left comments or posts behind. Meanwhile, Amazon Wishlists are often left public, and eBay listings are readily available. So, if you’ve been posting about Pokemon plushies and sending offers, Santa’s sleigh could already be in motion.
Want to know more about OSINT on the world’s biggest social platform? Check out OSINT on Facebook: Find Emails, Phone Numbers and More.
Family Photos
Image OSINT is one of the most overlooked disciplines in the field. Nowadays, images can reveal just as much about you as text; particularly with the advent of AI analysis. Just one Insta photo of your family’s living room could reveal which consoles your kids use for gaming, which toy brands or characters they love, how much money your family has to spend, and even where your kids go to school.
That’s because every detail in an image is a potential pivot. A logo on a certificate propped against your mantelpiece? Santa knows where your kids go to school. An Elsa doll on the couch? Santa knows Frozen toys will be a hit.
Parenting Forums
Parents often overshare on parenting forums. What starts as a harmless chat about a child’s favourite characters, or how to handle a rough night’s sleep often ends up revealing far more: routines, preferences, travel plans, even sensitive details about a child’s health or behaviour.
Individually, these 'sharenting' posts can feel insignificant. But together, they paint a surprisingly complete picture of a family’s daily life. And if OSINT Santa can find out your child’s most sensitive details… don’t even try to imagine who else could.
Gaming and Discord OSINT
Even if your kids are too old to believe in Santa, that doesn’t mean he can’t investigate. Older kids and teens can reuse their gamertags across platforms, giving Santa the low-down on how many hours are poured into certain titles, their long-forgotten fandom phases, and even which Discord servers they hop on at 2 a.m. Roblox builds, Minecraft worlds, Twitch follows, and a trail of digital purchases - it’s all there.
With just a sprinkle of gaming OSINT or Discord OSINT, Santa would know which games a child loves, what communities they belong to, and exactly how late they stay up playing (Naughty List time).
How Parents Can Reduce Their Child’s OSINT Footprint
So, what can you do to keep your family safe from Santa’s OSINT tricks? The answer is a kid-focused digital privacy program. Here are some simple, low-tech ways to keep yourselves anonymous.
- Share Less and Less Specifically: The best way to keep information out of the wrong hands (or mittens) is never to post it at all. Avoid posting schedules, routines, or overly detailed information about you, or your family.
- Blur Your Photos: Blur details in images of your home, or anything that could be a potential pivot point (bookshelves, posters, logos, calendars etc). Also, blur your kids' faces as a rule.
- Turn Toys Fully Off: Some “sleeping” toys continue to record ambient audio, and kids are chronic oversharers. Plus, you won’t have a freaky Furby keeping your child awake by chattering in the closet.
- Use Nicknames: Don’t link a child’s full name to an online system unnecessarily. Use an anonymising nickname, and make sure it’s not used as a passphrase elsewhere.
- Treat Smart Toys Like Smart Speakers: If you wouldn’t put an always-on speaker in a kid’s bedroom, don’t put a toy there either. Make sure you disable cloud connectivity too, and review the device’s permissions.
- Follow Standard OpSec: Stick to the tried-and-tested techniques OSINT pros rely on. If you need some pointers, check out our guides to cyber hygiene and managing your digital footprint.
Final Thoughts: The Christmas Privacy Message
This all sounds like a festive joke, but it reflects something serious. Families unintentionally create massive OSINT footprints for their children - long before their kids can even understand the principles of online privacy. So, as kids enjoy their new drones, plushies, robots, or suspiciously chatty AI companions this Christmas, remember: if Santa doesn’t need magic to know everything about your family… Neither does anyone else!
