UK Commercial Company Using Archaeological Records as a Quarry of Site Locations for Artefact Hunting

I must congratulate you on ARCHI. It's a wonderful resource

Ted Fletcher, Godfather Metal Detecting Journalist and Writer

Myself and Mo have used ARCHI UK almost

since its inception by Chris Kutler many years ago.

Obviously its even better today and is an amazing tool for the detectorist, beginner or expert.

Brian Cross, Founder of UK Detectornet.

Over the weekend, there has been growing interest in social media about the use of the data compiled from archaeological sources in a commercial database run by ARCHI INFORMATION SYSTEMS LTD. According to LinkedIn, this has been running for 3 years ( Jan 2019 - Present) and according to online records, its Managing Director is Chris Kutler who had founded the company as the London based 'ARCHI UK (Archaeology) LTD' that has operated for over 22 years right under the archaeologists' noses (Oct 1999 - Present)

ARCHI (https://www.archiuk.com) is used worldwide by individual private clients and in the educational sectors for the presentation and analysis of British and international archaeological, historical and cultural site locational data.

Published examples of such analyses include....
....... oh.

Anyway, before that, it was 'Archaeology UK - The UK and Worldwide Archaeological and Beautiful Sites Index (ARCHI)':

Database of more than 200,000 British and Worldwide Archaeological sites and sites of natural beauty and aerial photographs of sites in England, Scotland and Wales.

Before that, online records note that Mr Kutler worked for 18 years in the British National Archives as an 'Archival Data Analyst' (Apr 2000 - Jul 2018), the two activities overlapping (possible conflict of interest here?). There were prior to that some short spells in electronic publishing after Mr Kutler finished a something listed under education as "Birkbeck, University of London Field Archaeology 1997 - 1999" whatever that means. But it means that shortly after (?) he finished that stint of whatever-it-was at Birkbeck, he started up supplying archaeological locational information as ARCHI UK (Archaeology) Ltd.

ARCHI UK is the database of more than 200,000 British Archaeological Sites covering the whole of England, Scotland and Wales. It is regularly updated with 10,000 new additions made to the database every year. [...] The ARCHI service is used by a wide range of people for a wide range of purposes. From world-renown [sic] academic institutions such as Princeton University to Metal Detectorists, Field Walkers, Ramblers, Local Historians and all sorts of people from all walks of life [...] The precise locations (as GPS co-ordinates and marked on maps) of tens of thousands of Prehistoric, Roman, Iron Age / Celtic sites, Bronze Age, Saxon and Medieval sites and later sites are listed in the UK database. Plus there are links to road maps and aerial photographs showing the location of the sites on the ground. Many beautiful and historically significant coins and artefacts and previously unknown ancient sites have already been found and reported by field walkers and metal detectorists who have used the ARCHI iUK database for their research.[...] The ARCHI UK database (Archaeological Sites Index) contains details of sites mentioned in rare books and archaeological reports / surveys which are not easily found outside specialist libraries.
The 200,000+ UK archaeological sites listed in the ARCHI UK (ARCHI UK) database come from published sources such as hundreds of archaeological reports, county archaeological journals, findspots reported by archaeologists, fieldwalkers and metal detectorists and treasure hunters who have previously reported their finds while treasure hunting. The data from a search links to aerial photographs of sites enabling you to view many fascinating cropmarks and pinpoint the exact locations of the sites recorded in the database on the ground. [...] There is continuous work on the development of new technical features designed to further simplify the the identification and location of existing and new archaeological sites in the UK. [...] The cost of a subscription to the ARCHI UK database of UK and Worldwide Archaeological Sites is £8.90 per month or save by subscribing annually for £42.50 (+VAT).

So, there we have it, some guy is scouring the published results of archaeological fieldwork as well as reported Treasure locations so his company's clients can easily and simply identify and locate the findspots and archaeological sites in the UK. Some may come to stand on the x-marks the spot (with the landowner's permission) to gawp. Maybe. Others will be lured by the prospect of using their computer screen or iPhone to be led straight to the very spot where "many beautiful and historically significant coins and artefacts have already been found" by others and wanting to try their luck without having to "do the research" into the landscape itself. Just target the sites. Using the very documentation that archaeologists have created to preserve information to target those sites to destroy part or all of the rest of the information they contain.