Last week, Prince William made an appearance at SXSW London for an event connected to the Diana Award. He went to SXSW straight from a pub, and I wish I was joking. The pub visit might explain William’s bizarre comments about not knowing anything about menstruation. Well, his SXSW appearance went so “well,” William decided to stop by London Tech Week today for a panel discussion. It’s funny how William does these kinds of appearances and panel discussions these days too – a decade ago, he rarely made speeches or appeared on panels. So what was William’s panel discussion about? Homelessness and the tech industry. Check this out:
Prince William has told the tech industry that homelessness rarely happens without warning – and technology could help to solve the issue. The prince told London Tech Week that data, technology and businesses could spot the warning signs of homelessness early and prevent homelessness before it occurs.
“The earlier you deal with a problem, the better, as we all know in life,” said Prince William. “There’s no one problem that fixes homelessness. It’s multifaceted; it’s many different things. Many of your customers, your clients, will be using data through banking apps, through their phones. I’m not sure you realise how much that data can be used to predict and see problems with potential homelessness before they actually arise.”
Homewards, the prince’s homelessness programme, is launching the Homelessness Data Lab, which will employ techniques currently used by businesses to “ethically and responsibly” identify people at risk of homelessness at its earliest stages, when support can have the greatest impact.
Prince William highlighted how technology can be harnessed as a force for good with the potential to help to prevent homelessness not just in the UK, but globally. The project will be partnered with Salesforce and the UK property charity LandAid.
I’m sorry but… what? They want banks, cell phone providers and private companies to spy on people to predict potential homelessness? This sounds less about preventing homelessness and more like giving banks and businesses unfettered permission for an outrageous breach of sensitive data collection. It also sounds like they’re more concerned about monitoring homelessness rather than solving homelessness. I know the argument is likely something along the lines “there isn’t enough real-time data on homelessness, and that information will help us target people falling through the cracks.” But this makes my blood run cold – the idea of banks, cell phone companies and private businesses collecting their client/customers’ data and handing it off to Work-shy Willy’s homeless busywork scheme. Everyone has the right to privacy, even unhoused people! WTAF.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
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- The Prince of Wales taking part a panel discussion during London Tech Week to highlight role of data and technology in preventing homelessness at Olympia London. Featuring: Prince William Where: London, United Kingdom When: 10 Jun 2026 Credit: Aaron Chown/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Prince of Wales taking part a panel discussion during London Tech Week to highlight role of data and technology in preventing homelessness at Olympia London. Featuring: Prince William Where: London, United Kingdom When: 10 Jun 2026 Credit: Aaron Chown/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Prince of Wales taking part a panel discussion during London Tech Week to highlight role of data and technology in preventing homelessness at Olympia London. Featuring: Prince William Where: London, United Kingdom When: 10 Jun 2026 Credit: Aaron Chown/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
“WHAT?” was my first reaction, too. And this from a guy who appropriated 150 acres of land to preserve his privacy.
Right? That sounds like he’s been used. They’re probably just glad he’s doing something at all; he can’t foresee the consequences, or rather, they don’t affect him—so what.
Yes. They found a guy that will mindlessly promote their utter overreach and invasion of privacy.
Tell us, Wills, will they be peering into YOUR accounts? No, you say? Because you’re obviously not homeless? Surely they can’t tell unless they have a peek.
Insane. What a dolt.
I can imagine William’s handlers clutching their heads, moaning “OMG, we send him out, but he keeps opening his mouth and talking…”
This technology already exists, but William explained it incorrectly. It’s about better coordination of social services, digitizing essential paperwork necessary to obtain housing, and accurately tracking the numbered of unhoused people by local jurisdictions so they can be prepared with shelter beds.
So he thinks homelessness is a spending issue.
Right. How many people are living paycheck to paycheck? All that data is going to tell you is that no one can afford to live
Exactly. Not to mention, someone who is chronically homeless won’t even have accounts much less a cellphone with a plan.
Typical asshat response from someone trying to govern the poor and homeless that was born with a siliver spoon in their mouth. People who have never had to spend a moment of their lives wondering how they are gonna pay a bill in a given month, shouldnt have a thing to do with poor anything. If you arent able to relate, cant imagine all the scenarios that play out other than play acting step away.
Far to Orwellian for me we are loosing the right to privacy for the wealthy and it needs to stop every where.
I work in an industry that used big data. I can buy 1,500 data points about you right now. Privacy in today’s economy is a facade.
He always proves his incompetence and ineptitude by opening his mouth.. without fail. With all of his endless resources, this dude cannot even figure out how to help a cause that he is chanpioning. He is truly one of the most useless humans ever.
He thinks banks and tech companies are not aware of how much data they can hoover up off off people’s phones? Someone introduce this man to the Surveillance State. I can’t figure out if he’s just playing dumb or really is this dumb.
Also he thinks banks ect don’t already know which customers are drowning in debt or have incomes so low they could end up homeless?
He doesn’t do the work to properly educate himself. He clearly finds learning boring.
Here we go again. The same shadow group that works in the usa also works in England i see. In the usa this is called Anti- terrorism. Trump just signed something about watching our bank accounts!!
I believe they paid william to merge their surveillance with Homelessness prevention. Trying to whitewash the con. This is so stupid im now convinced that charles doesnt oversee William at all. William does anything for a buck.
What this will end up doing is hastening the end of the monarchy. No help when needed and championing a police state.
The corporate state is tracking and collecting your data and you agreed to it in every privacy policy you signed. There is no Orwellian conspiracy. Access to modern technology means giving up your privacy.
How can this possibly be legal?
Keeping 🤐 is a way to hide your idiocy.
How do you “prevent homelessness before it occurs”??? ….i mean. Forget tech. How about rent control? How about social housing? How about a living wage? Or, egads, is all that too political? Cue the clutching of many (fake) pearls. Eye roll.
…”There’s no one problem that fixes homelessness”???… forget the convoluted and self-contradictory phrasing. How can a problem fix something??? It just makes no sense at all. It’s pure jargon. Piffle. Waffle. Bloviating. Empty rhetoric. What a tool. He’s read a few decks of random power point slides and that’s all.
The homeless data lab???? Orwell would snort at this subpar man’s sinister pretentions. I mean. The only thing that comes to mind is the German prewar fascination for tracking data on degenerate populations. This guy is too stupid to realise he’s being puppeteered by the likes of Palantir. What a tool.
So other than surveillance, what’s the plan here? Your bank and cell carrier spy on you and tell Bill you’re in trouble and then what? This is so deeply stupid it takes my breath away. Also Bill schooling Big Tech about data scraping is textbook Scooter King.
I’m quite sure this program isn’t about finding solutions to homelessness. They’re much more interested in finding justifications for privacy invasion. They really do think people are stupid. Except them.
At nicki: ha ha ha. “Tell bill your in trouble”.
I laugh but really. telling bill might be better than what the reality will be. If bill can whine to tge right people about getting a lot of texts maybe it can help? Yeah right. I would give up my smartphone if this happens.
I would rather the surveillance money be used for low cost loans.
Ah. So the man with a dozen homes that someone else works to pay for now wants data. Actually, there’s a much easier way to prevent potential homelessness than violating rights, ethics and privacy with data grabbing: offer actual financial help to people with actual financial problems. For many people in the US, medical debts and taxes are enormous financial strains that can lead to homelessness. Surely there are similar interventions in GB that might help people remain housed in situations where throwing money at a potential problem will actually help significantly to address root causes of said problem.
Waiting for William to propose a living wage for all workers. That might help! 🤔
Oh the Irony and the Tone Deafness of this man knows no bounds.
Scooter has seen the more charismatic younger brother appearing on panels and getting praise for his speeches, so he thinks “I can do that – everyone knows I’m a big boy statesman who can end wars, homelessness and climate change. “ Hope he gets dragged for this.
The prince who notoriously land-grabbed 150 acres of public park land for HIS family’s privacy and keeps his own financials as opaque as possible is now advocating for the invasion of privacy of regular people. Oh William honey, I bet the bankers and tech billionaires are gonna worship you for a his. What a man of the people/S.
Good grief. Is this his ignorant and scary idea, or did someone from KP or the tech industry hand him these talking points? Yes, the tech and marketing industries already know who’s living paycheck to paycheck. They’ve known this cr@p about us for a few years now. They probably even know if you’re visiting that drug dealer on the corner.
What are you going to do about it, Willy? How about better healthcare? How about affordable housing (and no, we don’t mean building a few affordable units in that new development you’re building with the proceeds from selling those boring, moldy old units). A few demonstration housing projects is great, but by themselves, they’re not going to solve the problem. How about putting some of your massive foundation money towards the cause?
The last person the homeless should look to for help is Prince Scooter. Who is all talk and collects properties for himself.
This is creepy and Orwell-ian. This also proves he hasn’t educated himself about the issues around homelessness at all. Many people with full time jobs are ending up homeless because their wages haven’t kept up with cost of living. One crisis can put you on the street when you live paycheck to paycheck and at least half the population live paycheck to paycheck. The working class are being forced to pay too much for every living expense to enrich the 1% while paying the taxes the 1% dodge and loot for government bailouts and contracts. The tool with 7 homes and a recent 150 acre public landgrab around his latest forever mcMansion needs to sit down and stfu. The homeless problem is being caused by endstage capitalism with a sprinkling of failures to offer proper supports for veterans and the mentally ill (which is also end stage capitalism). Homelessness is turned into a pious morality issue instead of a social crisis by wingnuts and bots. No wonder the oligarchy gives him freebies to keep him in their pocket. He is just such a m#r#n and easy mark. How much of your tax money goes for social programs that benefit actual citizens versus goes to support the oligarchy through the military spending (including ice and the prison system)?
Our (liberal, Methodist) church hosted a podcast talking to a local long time homeless shelter. For every $100 median rent goes up, the homeless population increases by 9%. It’s predictable, and a terrifyingly big bump from a relatively small cost of living change. I can’t imagine how bad it’s getting right now.
There is just a little issue here with privacy and data protection. This has the vibe of Big Brother is watching you.
It also looks like William puts the onus of homelessness squarey at the feet of the individuals and their financial management.
Homelessness is a complex issue and environmental isssues such as lack of housing, rent increases, no fault evictions are contributors to homelessness. This is beyond the control of any individual. There are people/families with steady jobs and regular income homeless or threatened by homelessness due to no fault evictions, landlords sending out eviction notices to vacate their accommodation with just a few months notice. A lot.of people experience difficulties to find affordable alternative accommodation due to horrendous rent increases. More and more people are prized out of the home owner and even rental market.
He’s making it sound like people are homeless because they spend too much money on lattes and avocado toast. People are homeless because of job loss, no affordable housing, mental illness, predatory lending practices, etc. This makes it sound like the banks are going to be monitoring people’s checking accounts and send an alert to william when someone overdraws their account.
I was actually imagining worse than that: Like noting that people are spending their money on things like shoes, streaming, daycare and butter — instead of paying their landlords for housing. And, yes, when I think “landlord “ I do think about how the Trump family fortune got a boost from renting and managing racially segregated housing, thanks in part to federal funds.
As a personal aside, I get paying taxes — even those that go for resources that I, personally, will likely never use. It’s dismaying, though, to spend so much on insurance: property insurance, flood insurance, car insurance, health insurance, dental insurance— for services that I actually hope I will never desperately need. If I spent less on insurance— to try to protect what I already have — I’d have more to spend on things that would allow me to live a healthier life. Sigh.
So if I am at risk for homelessness, are the banks and cell phone companies going to arrange me a free place to live? Or will they just send me a super-helpful ‘alert’ text that I’m at risk?
Diana’s spirit must be supremely embarrassed by this idiot son. At least she has Harry to be proud of.
Or will they text your creditors to let them know just how much of a risk you’re becoming?
I’m sure that if Willy gets any backlash or whatever for this Roya and Becky will be out in full force trying to clear it up or distract from this
Like in 💔🇺🇸💔 Britain STOPPED building public housing in the 80s (🤬 Thatcher/Reagan)…fifty years of NOT investing in affordable housing is the problem…PERIOD!
The thing with William is that his understanding of any issue is shallow. This speaks to his intellectual and general laziness that he has not taken the time to actually delve into an issue or policy. That’s why all of his work are such drive-by events. He’s not a problem solver who understands issues and tries to find solutions, or at least does enough work to help others find solutions. I point this out because William says he wants to do impactful work, not just cut ribbons and raise awareness.
Kate is the same. Talking about “addiction and things” when she speaks says it all: shallow. The pair of them are becoming more ridiculous by the day.
Gawd what an idiotic mess this man is, truly. Ugh.