UN Human Rights Business & Human Rights in Technology scoping paper
The B-Tech Project will contribute to addressing the urgent need to find principled and pragmatic ways to prevent and address human rights harms connected with the development of digital technologies and their use by corporate, government and non-governmental actors, including individual users.
The premise of the B-Tech Project is that using the lens of all three pillars – Protect, Respect, Remedy - of the UNGPs can help clarify the respective roles and responsibilities of States and the private sector in relation to specific issues, as well as offering road maps to:
Guide what responsible business conduct looks like in practice regarding the development, application, sale and use of digital technologies;
Guide policy makers in applying a smart mix of regulation, incentives and public policy tools - providing human rights safeguards and accountability without hampering the potential of digital technologies to address social, ecological and other challenges; and
Develop workable models for remedy and accountability when harm has occurred.