Championing Responsible Tech & Human Rights
We’re taking a responsible approach to tech that respects people’s fundamental rights and freedoms.
Overview
We respect and support the human rights and freedoms of all those touched by our business: that’s everyone from our colleagues, customers and communities to the people working on our supply chain. We don’t take our responsibilities lightly. We think deeply about how we develop, use, buy and sell technology in ways that benefits people and minimises harms.
We're taking a bold and open approach to harnessing the opportunities, and responding to the risks of emerging technologies. Getting this right matters
Ed Petter
Corporate Affairs Director
Human Rights Governance
We follow the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (we were an early signatory of the UN Global Compact)
Respecting human rights is part of our Ethics Code, which all colleagues must complete training on every year.
We give additional guidance and support to teams most likely to face human rights risks. For example, training on modern slavery is mandatory for all our procurement colleagues, and we offer additional human rights support for key colleagues in our Asia, Middle East and Africa regions.
Our sales due diligence process helps to identify and address the potential human rights impacts of our products and services. We look at what we’re selling, who the customer is, and whether our product is likely to directly or indirectly support high risk activities like military, security or law enforcement applications.
Based on what we find, we may conduct a more detailed human rights impact assessment, sometimes with external support.
Taking a Responsible Approach to Technology
As technology continues to change our world at a dizzying pace, people are rightly concerned about the impacts of that technology, both intended and unintended, direct and indirect. And it’s not just the technology itself: the robotics, surveillance, artificial intelligence, augmented reality and all the rest. People have very real concerns about data. As a responsible company, our products, service, and operations hinge on the weight we give these concerns. And rest assured, it’s considerable.
Find out more about how we take a responsible approach to technology
Sourcing with dignity
Like most businesses, large or small, we rely on our supply chain to help us deliver the world-class products and services that millions of customers count on every day. And although we have direct control over our own recruitment and HR practices, keeping a handle on what happens within the depths of our supply chain is somewhat more challenging.
Protecting privacy and freedom of expression
In a digital world built on data, questions of privacy and freedom of expression become ever more complex. We’re all leaving data trails every minute of the day through our interactions on line, how we reveal ourselves on social media, where we travel with our mobile, the surveilled streets that we walk and drive down, even the routes that we take when we’re meandering around the supermarket aisles.
See how we protect privacy and freedom of expression
Addressing online harms and illegal content
The internet can be a dangerous place for the unwary and vulnerable. Sometimes it can be perilous for anyone. We believe that everyone should be safe and feel confident online. We take our responsibilities for protecting our customers extremely seriously.
Find out more about how we address online harms and illegal content
Fighting modern slavery
Modern slavery is one of the scourges of our age. We go to extensive lengths to make sure we don’t work with suppliers that engage in this abhorrent behaviour. And we delve deep into the different layers of our supply chain in our efforts to uncover any unsavoury practices that might be feeding into our products, services, or operations.