Surveillance Capitalism

Delcker: Regulation of Face-Scanning Technology Eludes U.S. and European Officials

January 01, 2020

According to Politico's Janosch Delcker, as face-scanning technology inspires privacy fears in the United States and Europe, efforts to check its spread are hitting a wall of resistance on both sides of the Atlantic.
Buxton: Davos Manifesto Lacks Enforcement Mechanisms

December 23, 2019

At openDemocracy.net, Nick Buxton laments that the recently published Davos Manifesto on the purpose of a company proposes an entirely voluntary process that contains no "enforcement mechanisms, legislation or regulation to ensure companies abide by their commitments."
WEF's Schwab Publishes "Davos Manifesto" on Purpose of a Company

December 23, 2019

Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum, has published Davos Manifesto 2020: The Universal Purpose of a Company in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, building on the emerging view that "the purpose of a company is to engage all its stakeholders in shared and sustained value creation."
Survey Results Reveal Global Concern over "Big Tech" Collection and Use of Personal Data

December 10, 2019

According to a recent survey of 10,000 people in nine countries conducted by YouGov on behalf of Amnesty International, seven in ten people (73%) want governments to do more to regulate Big Tech, with a clear majority (71%) worried about how tech companies collect and use their personal data.
Brown University Committee Supports Divestment Action

December 04, 2019

Brown University's Advisory Committee on Corporate Responsibility in Investment Policies (ACCRIP) has voted to have the University withdraw support for companies that are "facilitating the [Israeli] occupation and its human rights abuses in the West Bank and Gaza," an action supported in an earlier referendum by 70% of students and 100 faculty members.
Council of Europe Expert Committee Examines Human Rights Impacts of Algorithmic Systems

November 20, 2019

The Council of Europe expert committee on human rights dimensions of automated data processing and different forms of artificial intelligence has finalized recommendations on the human rights impacts of algorithmic systems.
International Trade Union General Secretary Seeks Treaty Restraints on Corporations

October 30, 2019

In a Social Europe op-ed, Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, a legally-binding global instrument on business and human rights would help remedy "the power and greed of huge corporations [that] have captured governments" and "are acting against the rights and interests of their own workers."
China Export of Surveillance Technology Could Yield Data Benefits for Communist Party

October 08, 2019

According to some experts, China's push to export its surveillance technology via some of its biggest companies, including to liberal democracies, has raised concerns because of the risk of data being siphoned back to Beijing and the growing influence of the Communist Party.
OECD/UNDP Initiative Leading to Increased Tax Collections

September 26, 2019

According to the new Annual Report of Tax Inspectors Without Borders ("TIWB"), a joint OECD/UNDP program, the international community has made important progress in improving developing countries’ ability to tax multinational enterprises and boost domestic revenue, with the TIWB initiative generating nearly $500 million in additional revenue for developing countries through April 2019.
UK NGO Claims Brexit Will Aggravate Human Slavery and Trafficking

September 25, 2019

Citing a report by the Social Market Foundation, Harry Sanders of the Immigration Advice Service claims that Brexit will increase the number of cases of modern slavery and trafficking, as "legal migration routes close and UK businesses suffer from vast workforce shortages in the face of diluted access to talent pools."