A British asset management company has produced a good practice
framework to help internet and technology companies improve the way
they manage online content, privacy and data use.
F&C, which has more than £100billion ($200bn) under management,
says that after a shaky start companies such as Google, Microsoft and
Yahoo! are now developing coherent strategies on responsible practice,
reflecting a more thoughtful approach. However, the fund manager
believes a framework is needed because ‘as the sector continues to
expand globally and technologies converge in new ways, the difficulties
it has encountered so far are likely to grow in scale and complexity’.
Google announced last month that it is to limit the length of time it
keeps personal information about online searches made by its users. The
company has been criticized by privacy campaigners for keeping
information about its customers – such as what they search for –
indefinitely. It will now retain data for only two years, and says it
has made the decision because ‘privacy is one of the cornerstones of
trust’.
F&C says growing concern about content, privacy and data use is a
worry because investors do not want to see companies in which they have
shares suffer reputational damage or regulatory curbs. ‘A proactive
response is vital in order to safeguard the sector’s licence to
operate, avoid obstructive regulation, and to maintain customer trust,’
it suggests.
The asset manager recommends businesses in the sector create
multi-disciplinary teams overseen by directors to test online security
systems in all departments. It points out that Yahoo! has done this,
creating a cross-departmental team known internally as ‘the paranoids’,
which reviews products and systems for data security risks.
It advises companies to incorporate security and privacy reviews into
research and development and product testing, report regularly to the
board, and ask government to develop standards.
Online content is currently restricted in about 30 countries that
‘pervasively or substantially limit freedom of expression and access to
the internet within their borders’. The framework therefore recommends
that all companies in the sector work together to develop standards
where common problems exist. In addition, where content has to be
restricted for legal reasons, they should define the nature of the
censorship as clearly as possible, both in terms of the content itself
and the geographical areas affected.
The framework, drawn up after consultation with more than a dozen
companies, also says customers should be informed when search results,
blogs and other online content have been limited or filtered, as Google
and Microsoft now do in China. Google says that for web users in China,
two per cent of pages are ‘unavailable [in its] search results’, due to
censorship by the Chinese authorities.
F&C will present the framework to the companies in its portfolios and then approach each to discuss specific concerns.
Bronwyn Kunhardt, director of citizenship at Microsoft in the UK, said
companies are already beginning to address the issues outlined by
F&C. ‘In the last couple of years the industry has realized the
true nature and impact it has on the communities it operates in,’ she
said.
