The UN Guiding Principles on Business on Human Rights (UNGPs) provide a principled and pragmatic framework to address situations in which the most serious risks to people are inherent to the business models of technology companies. They offer a set of guardrails and guidance for all companies across the sector—as well as civil society, investors and regulators—striving to embed respect for human rights within the commercial logic of 21st century technological advancements.

Under the UNGPs, companies are expected to conduct human rights due diligence across all of their business activities and relationships. This implies that they should: i) pro-actively identify when their business model driven practices, and related technology designs, create or exacerbate human rights risks; and ii) take action to address these situations—whether by mitigating risks within existing business models or by innovating entirely new ones.

Any effort to address human rights risks related to technology company business models will require that markets, regulators and society build enabling environments for responsible business practices – and where necessary alternative business models—to prosper. The UNGPs reflect critical aspects of the wider systems changes—for example in market incentives, public policy and law— that may be needed. They set the expectation that institutional investors should integrate human rights considerations throughout their investment lifecycle. And they re-affirm that States have a duty to protect against business-related human rights harms by deploying a smart mix of policy and regulatory measures. Providing insight and guidance to support companies, investors and States to implement these expectations is an important focus of the B-Tech project’s work ahead.