Google, Microsoft, Vodafone, Yahoo! and others agreed 18 months
ago to try to create a code of conduct for companies who wanted to
behave in a way that respected human rights.
Technology companies have faced increasing scrutiny over the
impact of their businesses and actions on users in countries where
they have been said to be complicit in the curtailing of social and
political freedoms.
Yahoo! faced severe criticism when it handed user information to
Chinese authorities who then identified and jailed dissident
bloggers. Google has faced enduring criticism about the way it
handles the massive amounts of data it gathers on users, and about
reported government censorship of search results in China.
Those companies and others are now close to finalising a code of
conduct for companies under the banner 'ICT Initiative on Freedom
of Expression and Privacy'.
Yahoo!'s deputy general counsel Michael Samway has written to
two US Senators who had enquired about the progress of the group
outlining the basics of the code of conduct. He said that they will
outline principles on freedom of expression and privacy.
"[These will] provide direction and guidance to the ICT industry
and its stakeholders in protecting and advancing the enjoyment of
freedom of expression and privacy globally," he wrote. "The
Principles describe key commitments in the following areas: Freedom
of Expression; Privacy; Responsible Company Decision Making;
Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration; Governance, Accountability &
Transparency."
"Events around the world make a code of conduct not just ideal
but essential, as companies and others work to ensure the
protection of basic human rights for citizens across the globe," he
wrote.
"We all believe the initiative will represent a meaningful,
integrated, and sustainable approach to addressing the root causes
of the challenges to Internet freedom, and will help the Internet,
communications, and technology (lCT) sector protect and advance the
fundamental rights to freedom of expression and privacy," wrote
Samway.
The Washington-based Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT)
helped to co-ordinate the original plans for a code of conduct. Its
executive director Leslie Harris explained the problem at the
time.
"Technology companies have played a vital role building the
economy and providing tools important for democratic reform in
developing countries. But many governments have found ways to turn
technology against their citizens – monitoring legitimate online
activities and censoring democratic material," Harris said. "It is
vital that we identify solutions that preserve the enormous
democratic value provided by technological development, while at
the same time protecting the human rights and civil liberties of
those who stand to benefit from that expansion."
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