Skopos is a case management application for investigative and intelligence professionals and amateurs alike. It is designed for solo practicioners and small firms that need a lean and inexpensive alternative to more expensive systems currently available. While most other case management software focuses on bookkeeping and billing, Skopos focuses on the investigative and intelligence process.
Skopos user experience is Case and Activity centric. Cases encompasses the overall endeavor. Cases seek to answer one or more questions. Activities represent the tasks that yield information to answer those questions. For analysis and evidence, it is important from where and when information was gathered, especially when sources conflict or their reliability varies.
Back To TopSkopos approaches data modeling as simple as possible. Skopos tracks People, Locations, Actions, Items, Associations, Events, Exhibits and Notes. People, Locations, Actions, and Items are known as Entities, lay the foundation for collection and analysis. Associations and Events put Entities in context of each other.
To illustrate this better, an Entity alone has very little importance. Bob. Drugs. Consumption. City Hall. It is only when enties are associated that the premise becomes important. For example, "Bob Consumes Drugs at City Hall." However, the nature of Cases involve missing information, hence the questions they seek to answer. In this regard, it usually means an entity of such an association is missing and thus becomes a question. Some examples:
Associations do not include just one of each class of entity. Most of the time, associations grow to be quite complex, with multiple people, actions, locations and items. It can be quite difficult to see the forrest through the trees when you have a massive list of who does what where and when with whom. This is why it is important to establish the associations during Activities: enable the system to process and visualize this data so people can see underlying patterns in graphs known as Association Matrices.
Associations are naturally abstract, not concrete. Events are the concrete instances of an association and are specifically religated to the past. An association between multiple entities at a specific Date and Time. For example, "Bob may know Alice" doesn't offer much in terms of relevance. "Bob meets with Alice for career mentorship" is much better but how does the source know? It is only the one or more "Bob meeting Alice" Events that solidifies the association. Events, with their temporal nature, afford two other analytical products: Timelines and Time-Event Charts.
With any analysis, especially with unreliable sources, it is important to support claims with evidence. In the legal realm, evidence is categorized as either Verbal (albeit under oath) or Physical (like documents or objects), hence Subpoena Ad Testificandum (to testify under penalty) and Subpoena Duces Tecum (to bring under penalty). Skopos tracks and stores this additional evidence with Exhibits, such as video, photo, or audio records. Notes are a simple feature that allows Collectors and Analysts to add additional context, facts or opinion during the course of their work.
Back To TopBilling is provided by Stripe. It is a subscription based on Cases, not users, and is currently set at $7.00 per month per case. Only the Principal (the owner of the case) is responsible for maintaining the subscription. Cases can be transferred between users, and the next Principal is responsible for maintaining the subscription.
There are limits to each case, to ensure that the Google Firebase services are not abused, and that this platform is sustainable. The storage limit is 10GB and a maximum of 10 colleagues per case. If a case requires more resources, then the Principle should consider dividing the case into smaller cases. If this is not feasible, please contact the administrator to see how best to address your use-case.
Skopos offers a one month grace period to satisfy debts, after which the case is automatically deleted. The grace period starts the day after the designated billing date (e.g., if last payment was October 1st, then grace begins November 2nd). The team will receive notifications during the first week of the grace period that the case is in arears, but maintain full function in the case. After this first week (i.e., November 9th), users cannot write or change data. After the grace period ends (i.e., December 1st), the Case is deleted.
It is important to note, that billing is only for the storage and use of the Skopos Cloud, which is hosted by Google's Firebase. Principals are encouraged to archive the cases to a local device and remove it off the Skopos Cloud when complete or inactive. Principals can reactivate cases later and resume their subscription.
Principals who are in arears also lose function in the app in general, in that their account is suspended. If you are a team member of a case that goes into arears, you can still participate in other cases. Conversely, if you are the Principal of a case that goes into arears, you cannot participate in other cases until your debt is settled.
Back To TopThe first version of Skopos encrypted the underlying data stored in the Skopos Cloud. The administrator could only see the cyphertext of documents and media. This has changed, due to the more complex nature of the next generation Skopos and how compounding complexity is not sustainable. The data and media are still encrypted in Google services, but the administrator now has access. Rest assured that this infomation is not shared with other organizations.
Furthermore, the nature of investigation, especially during collaboration, requires the collection of sensitive information and access to protected features of devices used. This includes payment, contact, and location information, the use of microphones, cameras, device location and local storage. This information is stored in the Skopos cloud, but again, is not shared with third parties.
When it comes to deleting data, user information is deleted upon request, with the exception of accounts in arears. This is to ensure that users who are in arears cannot simply delete their account and re-register to regain full access. Only Principals are authorized to delete a case. Any team member may archive a case they are assigned to, ensuring data redundancy and persistence.
Back To TopThe preferred method of contacting the administrator is by email to dev@mooney.agency. Alternatively, if you prefer to leave a voice message, you may call 720-449-2389. For Service of Process, the Administrator and Owner of Skopos is Frederic Mooney, a private citizen, and is a resident of North Las Vegas, NV.
Back To Top