Behind the rise of mass surveillance, predictive policing, and the steady erosion of privacy stands an unlikely enabler: Accenture, the world’s largest consultancy firm (because nothing says “trustworthy” like emerging from the ashes of Enron’s auditors). The Accenture Files—a major new investigation by the Progressive International, Expose Accenture, and the Movement Research Unit—exposes how this corporate giant has embedded itself at the heart of security states worldwide. Through confidential documents and insider testimony, the report reveals Accenture’s pivotal role in building the infrastructure of repression, from biometric databases tracking billions to algorithms that criminalise marginalised communities before they’ve even had their morning coffee.
The scale is staggering. In Britain alone, Accenture and Palantir secured a £500 million NHS contract (because what universal healthcare really needed was a side of surveillance capitalism). In India, its work on Aadhaar created the world’s largest biometric ID system—a tool so effective at exclusion it makes bouncers look egalitarian. The Accenture Files analyses 41 such contracts across four continents, uncovering a consistent pattern: public funds diverted to private hands with the subtlety of a smash-and-grab, bids rigged with the finesse of a cartel, and systems designed to surveil rather than serve. This isn’t just profiteering—it’s the deliberate construction of a more authoritarian future, one PowerPoint presentation at a time.
What makes Accenture uniquely dangerous is its ability to operate in the shadows while wearing a bespoke suit. Emerging from the wreckage of Arthur Andersen after the Enron scandal (corporate phoenixes always rise darker), the firm rebranded itself as a trusted government advisor—only to pioneer some of the most invasive surveillance tools of the post-9/11 era. Its US-VISIT programme laid the groundwork for global biometric tracking (because fingerprints are the new handshake), while its predictive policing software disproportionately targets Black and migrant communities (algorithms: just following orders, naturally). The Accenture Files dubs this network The Reactionary International: where corporate power and far-right governance meet for very expensive lunches, with Accenture picking up the tab (and the contracts).
The time for scrutiny is now—before “smart cities” become smart prisons. These systems are expanding rapidly, normalising oppression under the bland language of “innovation” and “efficiency” (and other words that lost all meaning around 2014). The full investigation— available here—is a call to action: to expose these contracts, challenge their legitimacy, and demand accountability before the infrastructure of control becomes as irreversible as a bad software update. The stakes couldn’t be higher—though Accenture’s profit margins might try.
