Surveillance Capitalism

Businesses Join AI Global Governance Initiative

June 20, 2018

NS Tech reports that the Big Innovation Centre, a British think tank, has launched an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Global Governance Initiative with government stakeholders and businesses including IBM and KPMG with the aim of guiding global policy on AI development.
NGOs Criticize Banks for "Backsliding" on Fossil Fuels

June 08, 2018

A group of nongovernmental organizations has published its latest edition of a report grading 36 of the largest global banks on their support for projects and corporations using "extreme" fossil fuels - including liquefied natural gas - finding that US and Canadian banks are "backsliding" on their public commitments to shift investments to renewable energy sources.
UK Official Places Onus on Companies to Protect Children Online

June 07, 2018

UK Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has threatened social-media companies with new regulations if they fail to engage in self-regulation protecting child rights online, including by "cutting underage use, preventing cyber bullying, and promoting healthy screen time," arguing companies must not force parents to make the choice to cut off their children from online "social interaction."
UK Parliament Body Reviews Rights Issues in Sports

June 07, 2018

The UK's All Party Parliamentary Group on Sport, Modern Slavery and Human Rights is calling for submissions from sports bodies, nongovernmental organizations, athletes, and others to be included in its investigation of "pressing human rights problems affecting large scale sporting events around the world."
UN Agent Seeks Rights Standards for Online Companies

June 06, 2018

Lawyer Evelyn Douek analyzes a report of UN Special Rapporteur on the freedom of expression David Kaye promoting global human rights standards as a "common vocabulary" for social-media companies to use in their exchanges with governments that wish to restrict the views expressed on their platforms.
NGOs Seek Business Support for New Global Labor Accord

June 06, 2018

Upon the expiration of the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety, signed by global clothing brands following a fatal factory collapse in 2013, a group of nongovernmental organizations and global unions is pushing brands to sign on to a 2018 "transitional" accord that could open them to legal action for failing to push for worker safety in their supply chains.
Ireland, Apple Agree to Repayment of Claimed Back Taxes

June 06, 2018

Politico reports that the Irish government has agreed to a legal framework through which Apple will pay Ireland over €13 billion in funds to comply with a 2016 European Commission (EC) demand that Ireland recoup back taxes related to an allegedly illegal tax deal with the tech giant.
Facebook Offers Users Opt-outs to Comply with GDPR

June 05, 2018

NPR reports that the social media giant Facebook is planning to offer opt-outs for users permitting them to avoid features that could expose their personal data in a move toward compliance with the EU's globally applicable General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
UN Report Reviews Response to "Sustainable Finance" Agenda

June 05, 2018

The final report of UN Environment's "Inquiry into the Design of a Sustainable Financial System" examines how financial institutions and regulatory bodies are responding to pressure from governments, activists, and international organizations by reforming their structures to divert "desperately needed" funding toward the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
NGO Welcomes UN Agency's Shipping Emissions Targets

June 01, 2018

The nongovernmental organization WWF has applauded as "a good first step" targets set by the UN's International Maritime Organization to reduce greenhouse gas emissions produced by the shipping industry by 50 percent by the year 2050 and an agreed ban of the transportation and use of heavy fuel oil in the Arctic.