Thread by @allthecitizens

This thread explains how to use Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) to find out information about the companies in our list that have won COVID-19 related contracts.

Dozens of stories have already been published looking at particular companies or contracts in this list, revealing concerns about their financial assets, their ability to fulfil the contracts, and their connections to the government.

However, there may be many more stories not reported on yet, and those are what we hope you will find, or help us to find. So, what information could help us decide whether any of the contracts are of concern?

First, if you see a contract that raises your eyebrows, please search online for the name of the company and the words ‘Covid-19’ and ‘contract’ to see if it has already been reported on. If not, perhaps it should be. So what can you do?

UK based companies must register with Companies House and file annual reports. You can look up many of the companies in this list via Companies House here - gov.uk/get-informatio…

If the company is listed, you can also see who the directors are, which persons have significant financial control of the company, and what the net assets (assets minus liabilities) of the company were at last financial filing.

If a company has been making significant losses, or has a limited amount of assets, it could signal that they are less able to fulfil their contract obligations.

You can also search the Companies House database, as well as lots of other linked databases through the OCCRP’s Aleph website - aleph.occrp.org

A similar website also worth using is the OpenCorporates website, which also contains lots of information about companies opencorporates.com

You can also search for the companies in the list against the ICIJ’s Offshore Leaks project, which contains information on companies listed in the Panama Papers and other sources. offshoreleaks.icij.org

Public bodies are subject to Freedom of Information laws. If you want to find out something about a contract, you might be able to send an FoI request to the body that signed it. The best way to do this is through theyworkforyou.com

If you want help or advice about an FoI request you want to do, why not get in touch and ask us about it? We have done lots of them and might be able to point you in the right direction.

If you want more information and ideas about OSINT resources, you might find this article about finding OSINT on companies useful. kit.exposingtheinvisible.org/en/what/compan…

Any questions? Please DM us. If you feel this is too much but still want to help, consider retweeting our pinned thread above and spreading the word. Democracy suffocates in darkness. Help us shine the light.

Here is the dataset: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d…