renseignements

Renseignements is a French term that denotes information, intelligence, or data collected and analyzed to understand a situation, anticipate events, or support decision-making. In everyday language it can refer to general information about a person, place, or topic, while in governmental or military contexts it designates the practice and products of systematic information gathering by intelligence services or security agencies. The word derives from renseigner, to inform.

Renseignements may be classified as open-source information (information available publicly), field reports from observers, or intelligence gathered through various means. In professional contexts it is common to distinguish between general information, operational intelligence, and more specialized forms such as human intelligence (collected from people) and technical intelligence (from devices or communications).

Government and security institutions employ services de renseignements to assess risks, support policy, and protect national security. They operate within legal frameworks that govern privacy, surveillance, and data protection. The production of renseignements relies on verification, corroboration, and assessment to minimize bias and errors, given the high stakes of misinterpreted information.

Etymology and usage notes: In French, renseignements is typically plural when referring to pieces of information or the field as a whole. The term is closely linked to intelligence, information gathering, and security. In non-French contexts, renseignement is often translated as intelligence.