Before accessing SENTINEL's government contract intelligence database, you must read and accept the following terms. This is a legally binding click-through agreement. Scrolling does not constitute acceptance — you must actively check each box.
SENTINEL is an open-source intelligence (OSINT) research tool that aggregates, analyzes, and visualizes publicly available U.S. federal government contract data sourced from SAM.gov, USASpending.gov, and FPDS (Federal Procurement Data System). All data is lawfully obtained from official government open data sources under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA).
You may NOT use SENTINEL to:
All contract records displayed are drawn exclusively from official U.S. government open data portals. This data is in the public domain under 17 U.S.C. § 105 (works of the U.S. Government are not subject to copyright). AI-generated analysis is provided for research context only and does not constitute legal, financial, or professional advice.
SENTINEL does not collect, store, or sell your personal information. Query history is stored anonymously (no account required). No tracking pixels, behavioral advertising, or third-party analytics are deployed. Your IP address may be retained in server logs for up to 72 hours for abuse prevention only.
SENTINEL is provided "as-is" for research purposes. Indica Independent Media / VPDLNY makes no warranties about data accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose. We are not liable for any decisions made based on contract data or AI analysis provided by this tool. Government contract data may contain errors — always verify against primary sources at SAM.gov and USASpending.gov.
Plain English Summary: SENTINEL is a free research tool for analyzing public government contracts. It's built for OSINT researchers, journalists, and civic technologists. Don't use it to harm people. All data is public. We don't sell your data. Ever.
By clicking "ENTER SENTINEL" on the consent gate, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms of Service ("Terms"). These Terms constitute a legally enforceable click-through agreement under applicable contract law, including the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (E-SIGN Act, 15 U.S.C. § 7001 et seq.). If you do not agree, you must immediately cease use of SENTINEL.
These Terms were last updated on May 1, 2026 and are binding on all users regardless of jurisdiction, subject to applicable local law.
SENTINEL ("the Service") is an open-source intelligence research platform operated by Indica Independent Media, a project of the Vulnerable Persons Defense League of New York (VPDLNY). The Service provides:
SENTINEL is provided free of charge for research and educational purposes. No user account or registration is required to access the Service.
All contract data displayed by SENTINEL is sourced exclusively from official U.S. government open data portals:
This data constitutes works of the United States Government and is not subject to copyright protection under 17 U.S.C. § 105. All data is lawfully obtained under the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA, 31 U.S.C. § 6101) and the DATA Act of 2014, which mandate public disclosure of federal spending.
SENTINEL does not scrape, intercept, or misappropriate any non-public, classified, or restricted government data. All records are publicly disclosed by federal agencies as required by law.
You are expressly authorized to use SENTINEL for:
Violation of these prohibitions may result in civil liability, criminal referral, and/or permanent IP-level access termination.
You may NOT use SENTINEL to:
SENTINEL uses Anthropic's Claude AI to generate analysis and insights from government contract data. AI-generated content is provided for research context only. You acknowledge and agree that:
The SENTINEL platform code, UI design, visual assets, and original analytical frameworks are © 2026 Indica Independent Media, all rights reserved. The underlying government contract data is in the public domain. The SENTINEL name and logo may not be used to imply endorsement without written permission.
SENTINEL is submitted as an open-source research tool for the Google Cloud Rapid Agent Hackathon (2026). Hackathon submission materials are subject to applicable contest rules.
THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT.
IN NO EVENT SHALL INDICA INDEPENDENT MEDIA, VPDLNY, OR ANY CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF SENTINEL, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
Our maximum aggregate liability for any claim arising from use of the Service is $100 USD.
These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of New York, without regard to conflict of law principles. Any dispute arising from these Terms shall be resolved by binding arbitration under the AAA Consumer Arbitration Rules, conducted in New York, NY. You waive any right to a jury trial or class action proceeding.
We reserve the right to modify these Terms at any time. Material changes will be announced by resetting the consent gate — you will be required to re-accept updated Terms before continuing. Continued use after acceptance constitutes agreement to the new Terms. The current effective date is always displayed at the top of this document.
Questions about these Terms: [email protected]
Subject line: [SENTINEL LEGAL]
Response time: 5–10 business days
Short version: We collect almost nothing. We sell nothing. We track no one. SENTINEL is a research tool, not an ad platform.
SENTINEL is operated by Indica Independent Media, a project of the Vulnerable Persons Defense League of New York (VPDLNY), an independent civic technology collective based in Staten Island, New York. We build free tools for public accountability research.
Data Controller Contact: [email protected]
We use the minimal data we collect exclusively for:
We will never use your data for advertising, profiling, data brokering, or any commercial purpose.
Research queries are processed by Anthropic's Claude API. Anthropic may retain query data per their own privacy policy. We recommend reviewing anthropic.com/privacy. We do not send any personal identifying information to Anthropic.
Our database is hosted on MongoDB Atlas (AWS us-east-1). Anonymous query logs are stored here. MongoDB Atlas is SOC 2 Type II certified. See mongodb.com/legal/privacy-policy.
Network traffic is routed through Cloudflare for DDoS protection and performance. Cloudflare may process IP addresses as part of network operations. See cloudflare.com/privacypolicy.
Typography is served via Google Fonts CDN. This may result in Google logging your IP address. We are evaluating self-hosting as an alternative.
SENTINEL uses no cookies. We use browser localStorage solely to remember your consent gate acceptance so you are not shown it on every visit. This data:
Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have rights including:
Because we collect minimal data and link none of it to identities, most requests can be fulfilled by simply clearing your browser's localStorage. For other requests, email [email protected] with subject [SENTINEL PRIVACY REQUEST].
California residents (CCPA): We do not sell personal information. We do not share personal information with third parties for cross-context behavioral advertising.
EU/UK residents (GDPR/UK GDPR): Our legal basis for processing is legitimate interests (abuse prevention, service security). You have the right to lodge a complaint with your supervisory authority.
We implement industry-standard security measures including TLS 1.3 encryption in transit, Cloudflare DDoS protection, MongoDB Atlas encryption at rest, and Zero Trust network access controls. No system is 100% secure — we will notify affected users of any breach within 72 hours of discovery as required by applicable law.
SENTINEL is not directed at individuals under 18 years of age. We do not knowingly collect data from minors. If you believe a minor has used the Service, contact us immediately at [email protected].
Material changes to this Privacy Policy will trigger a consent gate reset, requiring fresh acceptance. The effective date at the top of this page reflects the most recent update.
SENTINEL was built because the U.S. government spends billions on surveillance technology — facial recognition, AI targeting systems, behavioral analytics — and most people have no idea. That has to change.
The federal government awards thousands of contracts for surveillance, AI, and intelligence technology every year. This data is technically public — but it's buried across SAM.gov, USASpending.gov, and FPDS in formats that require significant technical skill to access and interpret.
The result: billion-dollar surveillance procurement happens in plain sight but total obscurity. Palantir alone has $3.66 billion in active federal contracts. Clearview AI has federal contracts for facial recognition. These aren't secrets — they're public records that nobody has indexed and made searchable for ordinary citizens, journalists, and researchers.
SENTINEL changes that.
Indica Independent Media is an independent civic technology project based in Staten Island, New York, operating under the umbrella of the Vulnerable Persons Defense League of New York (VPDLNY) — a collective of technologists, artists, and researchers who use information and knowledge as tools to defend vulnerable and marginalized communities.
We believe that powerful entities — governments, corporations, surveillance contractors — derive their power partly from information asymmetry. OSINT tools like SENTINEL help level that field. Knowledge is the weapon. Always.
Python async API server running on Ubuntu Linux, deployed on-premise with Cloudflare Tunnel for zero-exposure public access.
claude-opus-4-7 processes research queries against 249+ real government contracts to surface patterns and anomalies.
249 contracts totaling $3.83B indexed in Atlas. Geospatial indexing enables contract density mapping by location.
Zero Trust network, DDoS protection, and global CDN. All traffic encrypted TLS 1.3. No data leaves the US.
SENTINEL was developed as an entry for the Google Cloud Rapid Agent Hackathon (2026), MongoDB track. The contest challenges developers to build AI-powered agents using modern LLM and database infrastructure.
SENTINEL demonstrates a real-world application of AI agent technology in the public interest: making government surveillance procurement data accessible, searchable, and intelligible to anyone — not just contractors and lobbyists with expensive consultants.
While built for a hackathon, SENTINEL is a permanent project. The data will keep growing. The tool will keep improving. Public contract data will always be public — and always indexed here.
Data is updated periodically from SAM.gov. Coverage focuses on AI, surveillance, facial recognition, and intelligence technology procurement. Future versions will expand to all federal IT contracts.
SENTINEL is open source. Code is available at github.com/indicaindependent. We practice what we preach — if you're going to build a transparency tool, be transparent about how it works.