"The [London, UK] Metropolitan Police has been blocked from signing a contract worth up to £50m with the US technology firm Palantir, after London's deputy mayor refused to approve the deal...
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@tdp_org wow that is great news and slightly lessens the general feeling of despair I feel. It doesn’t surprise me in the slightest but definitely angers me that it turns out a companies ethics don’t need to be considered before potentially handing over £50m to them 🤬
@launchdaemon @tdp_org yeah it's the anti-corruption regs. they make sense in isolation when you're thinking about the problem of fairness in bidding for public contracts, where you're trying to stop stuff like a local MP hiring their brother-in-law's construction firm for a project even though they're not the best option. but those restrictions can also, at least rules-as-written, prevent subjective aspects of the bid like "these people are awful" from being an official factor in the decision.
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@launchdaemon @tdp_org yeah it's the anti-corruption regs. they make sense in isolation when you're thinking about the problem of fairness in bidding for public contracts, where you're trying to stop stuff like a local MP hiring their brother-in-law's construction firm for a project even though they're not the best option. but those restrictions can also, at least rules-as-written, prevent subjective aspects of the bid like "these people are awful" from being an official factor in the decision.
@launchdaemon @tdp_org the good news is that it's pretty rare for anything bad to happen when people say "no way, not hiring them" on bidders like this, even if it technically counts as not following the fairness regs to the letter. but it is still ridiculous that there's no ethics board assessment as part of the process once the bid amount exceeds a threshold.
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@launchdaemon @tdp_org the good news is that it's pretty rare for anything bad to happen when people say "no way, not hiring them" on bidders like this, even if it technically counts as not following the fairness regs to the letter. but it is still ridiculous that there's no ethics board assessment as part of the process once the bid amount exceeds a threshold.
@gsuberland @tdp_org hmm well I guess it makes sense in that scenario like you say to try and ensure fairness and guess it’s another good example of regulations not changing with the times from their brother’s building project to £50m mass surveillance…..
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"The [London, UK] Metropolitan Police has been blocked from signing a contract worth up to £50m with the US technology firm Palantir, after London's deputy mayor refused to approve the deal...
...It also cited concerns around the firm's values and ethics, although legally this cannot influence a deal refusal."
Good. Palantir can get directly in the bin.
Met Police Palantir contract blocked by City Hall
City Hall has refused a contract worth up to £50m with the US technology firm Palantir.
BBC News (www.bbc.co.uk)
@tdp_org @GossiTheDog but we're still gonna investigate all the corruption it found, right?
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/apr/25/met-police-investigates-hundreds-officers-palantir-ai-tool -
@launchdaemon @tdp_org the good news is that it's pretty rare for anything bad to happen when people say "no way, not hiring them" on bidders like this, even if it technically counts as not following the fairness regs to the letter. but it is still ridiculous that there's no ethics board assessment as part of the process once the bid amount exceeds a threshold.
@gsuberland@chaos.social @launchdaemon@infosec.exchange @tdp_org@mastodon.social it can sorta be put into the requirements (though that's up to the purchasing org to do it). Work has to buy stuff through public procurements, and these days every one has a "provider doesn't work in/deal with russia etc." clause, that could viably be extended for more ethics related questions.
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"The [London, UK] Metropolitan Police has been blocked from signing a contract worth up to £50m with the US technology firm Palantir, after London's deputy mayor refused to approve the deal...
...It also cited concerns around the firm's values and ethics, although legally this cannot influence a deal refusal."
Good. Palantir can get directly in the bin.
Met Police Palantir contract blocked by City Hall
City Hall has refused a contract worth up to £50m with the US technology firm Palantir.
BBC News (www.bbc.co.uk)
The brave thing to do would be to strip the company from a business license
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"The [London, UK] Metropolitan Police has been blocked from signing a contract worth up to £50m with the US technology firm Palantir, after London's deputy mayor refused to approve the deal...
...It also cited concerns around the firm's values and ethics, although legally this cannot influence a deal refusal."
Good. Palantir can get directly in the bin.
Met Police Palantir contract blocked by City Hall
City Hall has refused a contract worth up to £50m with the US technology firm Palantir.
BBC News (www.bbc.co.uk)
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"The [London, UK] Metropolitan Police has been blocked from signing a contract worth up to £50m with the US technology firm Palantir, after London's deputy mayor refused to approve the deal...
...It also cited concerns around the firm's values and ethics, although legally this cannot influence a deal refusal."
Good. Palantir can get directly in the bin.
Met Police Palantir contract blocked by City Hall
City Hall has refused a contract worth up to £50m with the US technology firm Palantir.
BBC News (www.bbc.co.uk)
@tdp_org i have a problem with "concerns around the firm's values and ethics" not being a legal consideration to "influence a deal refusal" because that should be equally on par with a contractor's technical ability to do a job and ahead of cost.
It's as if the law around Met contracts was written by crooks.
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"The [London, UK] Metropolitan Police has been blocked from signing a contract worth up to £50m with the US technology firm Palantir, after London's deputy mayor refused to approve the deal...
...It also cited concerns around the firm's values and ethics, although legally this cannot influence a deal refusal."
Good. Palantir can get directly in the bin.
Met Police Palantir contract blocked by City Hall
City Hall has refused a contract worth up to £50m with the US technology firm Palantir.
BBC News (www.bbc.co.uk)
The Met can not be trusted with anything.
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"The [London, UK] Metropolitan Police has been blocked from signing a contract worth up to £50m with the US technology firm Palantir, after London's deputy mayor refused to approve the deal...
...It also cited concerns around the firm's values and ethics, although legally this cannot influence a deal refusal."
Good. Palantir can get directly in the bin.
Met Police Palantir contract blocked by City Hall
City Hall has refused a contract worth up to £50m with the US technology firm Palantir.
BBC News (www.bbc.co.uk)
@tdp_org "the firm's values and ethics ... cannot [legally] influence a deal refusal."
That makes my head explode.
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@launchdaemon @tdp_org yeah it's the anti-corruption regs. they make sense in isolation when you're thinking about the problem of fairness in bidding for public contracts, where you're trying to stop stuff like a local MP hiring their brother-in-law's construction firm for a project even though they're not the best option. but those restrictions can also, at least rules-as-written, prevent subjective aspects of the bid like "these people are awful" from being an official factor in the decision.
@gsuberland I would hope you'd agree that "these people are unethical" should be "an official factor." One would need receipts but you'd also need receipts for a company's financial solvency before awarding a contract.
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@gsuberland I would hope you'd agree that "these people are unethical" should be "an official factor." One would need receipts but you'd also need receipts for a company's financial solvency before awarding a contract.
@Axomamma yes, obviously. read the rest of the replies.
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