Data Sprint on Digital Rights in the Telecom Sector

Ranking Digital Rights ranks the world’s most powerful internet, mobile, and telecommunications companies on 35 indicators that measure if and how well companies disclose commitments and policies affecting users’ freedom of expression and privacy. Join us on the 23rd of May 2017 from 1pm-6pm at the HIIG (Berlin, Germany) for a Data Sprint event, using the RDR methodology to research the disclosed policies of some of the largest European telecommunications companies in real-time:

Data Sprint on Digital Rights in the Telecom Sector
23 May 2017 | 1 pm – 6 pm
HIIG | Französische Straße 9 | 10117 Berlin

About the event

Every day for our digital communications and activities, we rely on products, platforms, and services which are controlled by large corporations that have an enormous impact onusers’ human rights including privacy and freedom of expression.  Ranking Digital Rights’ most recent Corporate Accountability Index, released in March 2017, evaluated 22 internet, mobile, and telecommunications companies on their disclosed commitments and policies affecting users’ freedom of expression and privacy.

On May 23, 2017 Ranking Digital Rights (RDR) and WikiRate, in cooperation with the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society invite you to a hands-on research event at which we will work together to understand how well  telecommunications companies in Europe demonstrate and communicate respect for freedom of expression and privacy to their users. We will focus on selected indicators from the RDR methodology, including those that examine company policies around network shutdowns, how companies inform users of data breaches, and if and how companies collect, retain, and share user data.

We will learn how to use the open access WikiRate.org platform to analyze corporate disclosures. The data generated during the event will become part of a larger corporate accountability effort that uses research for civic awareness and evidence based advocacy.

RDR and HIIG researchers will speak at the workshop about the context and importance of disclosure by global internet, mobile, and telecommunications companies of policies and practices affecting users’ freedom of expression and privacy. WikiRate representatives will introduce the platform and describe their approach to measuring corporations’ social and environmental behaviour.

Event agenda

Refreshments will be served.

As this is an interactive event please bring a laptop so you can contribute to the research effort. The Data Sprint is open to the public but the venue has limited space. The participants are requested to RSVP by registering via the form below.

We look forward to your participation! Please support us by sharing this invitation with your colleagues and networks.

About the organizers

Ranking Digital Rights is a is a non-profit research initiative housed at New America’s Open Technology Institute, working with an international network of partners to set global standards for how companies in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector should respect freedom of expression and privacy.  Ranking Digital Rights released the second edition of its Corporate Accountability Index, which ranked 22 companies according to an expanded list of 35 indicators focused on corporate disclosure of policies and practices that affect users’ freedom of expression and privacy.

WikiRate.org is an open research platform that focuses on the collection, analysis and discussion of corporate Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) data. It is a collaborative platform that enables anyone to collect such publicly available information in a structured way, ultimate providing a repository of corporate sustainability data that is accessible, comparable and free. It is as such a organisation for civic benefit with a mission to spur corporations to be transparent and responsive by aligning their social and environmental impacts with their competitive instincts.

Photo: WOCinTech Chat (Flickr CC BY 2.0)