The tech bros’ dirty little secret – on the big screen (with a free drink!)

Dear Citizens,

Et tu, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire?

This week, we broke the news that three police forces have handed Palantir a five-year contract worth just over £10 million to connect and analyse data across their policing systems - the company’s largest known single policing contract in England. The deal had already been running for nearly a month before the public notice appeared, and that notice included neither the contract itself nor a detailed account of what data will be brought together. Read our investigation here.

This comes as other police forces cut ties with Palantir and communities demand answers about the surveillance giant tightening its grip on the British state. The Citizens are still fighting to get Palantir out of the NHS, out of policing and out of the British state.

Here’s what else to watch, read and do this week…

▶ ONE WATCH: The tech bros’ dirty little secret ▶

Behind the shiny promises of artificial intelligence lies a history of racism, misogyny and eugenics. Not quite the future the tech bros are selling us, is it?

Well, one film is digging into the past they’d rather you didn’t see. And next Wednesday, we’re bringing it to the big screen at Rich Mix in East London.

👻 Ghost in the Machine is a must-watch for anyone who wants to understand AI, and this is your last chance to join us!

We’re offering you, our beloved subscribers, 50% off tickets, plus a free drink on us (we’re good to you, aren’t we?).

If cost is a barrier, free tickets are also available at checkout – we just ask that you only book if you intend to come.

PS - This is one of six independent documentaries we're bringing out of the algorithm and into communities across the country. Find out more about that here.

🩺 ONE READ: The Nurses Are Fighting Back 🩺

We are always looking for ways to help readers navigate Big Tech skepticism without feeling helpless, or retreating into individual screen-time guilt. In a new recurring New Yorker series, Jay Caspian Kang asks what meaningful resistance might look like when personal fixes are not enough. His first column turns to collective action: nurses organizing against AI systems that threaten clinical judgment, privacy and human care. This could become a useful guide and companion for anyone trying to move from unease to action. Start the series here.

👉 Bonus read: Is AI becoming a food fight? First, a reminder that not every food-tech disaster needs futuristic AI: hackers exploited poorly secured, internet-connected refrigerators, disrupting blood-storage facilities and supermarkets and forcing stores across Europe to discard huge amounts of food. WIRED has the chilling details.

Meanwhile in Philadelphia, 78-year-old professor Carolyn Marvin has become a local celebrity by physically blocking food-delivery robots, raising questions about jobs, accessibility and who gets to occupy public space. Meet the queen of the robot blockade.

📚 ONE ACTION: WTF, Google? 📚

Google says its AI tools will be switched off by default for K-12 student accounts unless school administrators opt in. Good. But there’s a catch: schools that reject AI entirely will also lose access to Google Search, because the company now considers Search and AI too “deeply integrated” to separate. That is not meaningful choice; it is a company using its dominance in education to make schools accept a controversial new product, or lose a basic research tool.

👉 Read the New York Times report, and then tell Google CEO Sundar Pichai to guarantee that schools can continue using standard Google Search with all AI features switched off, leaving decisions about classroom technology to families, teachers and local school boards. Oh, and sign the petition here.

That’s all for this week,
Team Citizens

PS - Join our Signal Chat if you haven’t already! 400+ people share practical advice on protecting your data, organising against Big Tech and staying ahead of what you need to know.