Surveillance Capitalism

NGOs: Companies Must Deny Face Surveillance Tech to Governments

January 31, 2019

A group of nongovernmental organizations has published a letter calling on tech company Microsoft to refuse to provide a face surveillance product it has developed, called Face API, to any governments, warning that government use of such technology will target “immigrants, religious minorities, and people of color in our communities.”
NGO Initiative Pushes Corporate SDG Finance in Asia

January 31, 2019

A group of nongovernmental organizations, finance companies, and academics have formed an Asia Sustainable Finance Initiative to push companies to place their investments in projects that support “sustainable economic, social, and environmental outcomes” aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Paper Calls for Global Standards on Data Analytics

January 31, 2019

The nongovernmental organization Centre for International Governance Innovation has published a paper pushing for governments, businesses, and nongovernmental organizations to work toward the development of “international foundational standards” to prevent corporate misuse of data analytics.
Commission Seeks Treaty to Combat Food Industry Influence

January 30, 2019

A Commission on Obesity formed by medical journal Lancet has called for a global treaty aimed at excluding food and beverage companies from the formation of nutrition policies and seeks the reshaping of the industry to pursue healthy and environmentally friendly objectives in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
NGO: Companies Must Directly Implement CSR in Operations

January 25, 2019

Reviewing Indian legislation on corporate social responsibility (CSR), the nongovernmental organization Corporate Responsibility Watch warns that CSR, when considered as a complement to rather than an essential component of corporate operations, “will have limited contribution in realising social, environmental and ethical business practices.”
NGO: “Shareholder Supremacy” Threatens Future of Work

January 25, 2019

The nongovernmental organization Oxfam has issued a statement welcoming the International Labour Organization’s publication on necessary government measures to address the “future of work” but warning the proposals fail to tackle companies’ “obsessive fixation on creating profit for shareholders.”
ILO Body Seeks Global Governance to Address Employment Challenges

January 25, 2019

The International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Global Commission on the Future of Work has issued a report seeking a global governance system aimed at protecting workers’ rights in light of technological developments in the workplace and calling for a reform of businesses’ focus on short-term financial success.
WEF Panel Seeks “Global Architecture” to Address Tech Progress

January 23, 2019

Speaking at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos, business leaders outlined a potential new “global architecture” to control the impacts and ensure the “inclusiveness” of the technological transformation of the world’s economy they refer to as “Globalization 4.0.”
NGO Criticizes Corporate Alliance Against Plastic Waste

January 16, 2019

The Guardian reports that activist group Greenpeace has characterized a newly launched Alliance to End Plastic Waste, created by companies including Procter & Gamble, Shell, and ExxonMobil to fund research on and efforts to reduce plastic pollution, as a “desperate attempt from corporate polluters to maintain the status quo on plastics.”
World Bank Prices CAD Bond for SDGs on Nutrition

January 16, 2019

The World Bank recently priced a benchmark CAD 1.5 billion “Sustainable Development bond” aimed at raising funds to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to healthy diets, as part of the World Bank’s global strategy to raise private funds for the UN’s comprehensive social and environmental agenda.