(José Niño, Headline USA) Accenture, the world’s largest consulting firm, has quietly become a driving force behind the rise of global surveillance and algorithmic policing—growing from the 59th largest U.S. government contractor to the 8th largest in about two decades.
A new investigation published last month by Reactionary International, dubbed the “Accenture Files,” details how the world’s largest consultancy rose from the ashes of the Enron scandal to become a cornerstone of state surveillance infrastructure.
Originally Andersen Consulting, Accenture rebranded in 2001 after separating from Arthur Andersen, distancing itself from scandal while retaining global reach. The post-9/11 security boom offered Accenture a golden opportunity.
In 2004, the company quickly secured a pivotal contract with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to build the US-VISIT program—a biometric tracking system that has the ability to surveil millions of travelers and immigrants.
However, Accenture manipulated the bidding process to secure the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s US-VISIT contract by moving into government offices and setting up operations before the award was officially announced.
In doing so, it effectively positioned itself as the de facto contractor during the evaluation phase. This move created logistical advantages, making it difficult for competitors like Lockheed Martin and CSC to displace them.
Moreover, in August 2003, three months prior to the government starting to request bids, Accenture officials recommended US-VISIT director James L. Williams to “limit the number of bidders, and streamline the procurement approach,” according to a report by the Washington Post.
This aggressive maneuvering set a precedent for how Accenture would win future government work, establishing a pattern of leveraging insider relationships, exploiting opaque procurement processes, and recruiting former officials
New research reveals how Accenture, a global IT company has systematically embedded itself within the architecture of state surveillance. The documents expose the company’s involvement in algorithm-driven policing and the construction of biometric databases containing the… pic.twitter.com/dwKUKJ9fXq
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) May 18, 2025
Accenture’s influence extends through strategic partnerships. One of the most significant is with Palantir, the controversial data-mining company founded by Peter Thiel. Together, they have secured major contracts, such as a $600 million deal with the UK’s National Health Service to create a centralized data platform.
Accenture is now one of the top U.S. government contractors, with clients including the Department of Defense and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). It has developed “smart border” technologies and modernized IT systems for border agencies, further entrenching its role in the military-industrial complex. The company has also invested heavily in Israeli cybersecurity firms, advancing its offensive cyber capabilities and expanding its global reach.
Despite positioning itself as a cybersecurity leader, Accenture has suffered several high-profile data breaches. In 2017, it left sensitive data on unsecured cloud servers, exposing secrets from both its own operations and those of its clients.
More recently, a 2024 data leak allegedly compromised tens of thousands of employee records, further putting into question its security practices.
José Niño is the deputy editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/JoseAlNino
