UK Government Kicks Out Palantir
government Open Source · 3 comments · 800 words · Viewed ~538 times
The UK Government, for all its faults, is pretty good at publishing contracts it has awarded. That's why I get depressed when I see rage-bait nonsense about how companies have been award "Top Secret" deals.
Right now you can go to https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk and search for whichever bête noire has you riled up. You might want to argue that the company is corrupt, incompetent, or overpriced - but you can't argue that its contract is secret. There's no conspiracy. There's no secrecy. There's not even "beware of the leopard" shenanigans. It's all out in the open 0 .
The Government says who it paying money to.
But, of course, there are some things the Government can't say. It's rare for them to publicly disagree with a supplier, or call out how crappy they were. They need to maintain cordial relations with people 1 . They don't want to scare off new suppliers who can't risk being publicly humiliated. When contracts are cancelled or ended, it is usually done quietly.
So you need to learn to read between the lines.