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Hewlett-Packard is hoping to assemble a group of companies to create a
protocol on the ethical use of personal information on customers and
employees.
The IT giant believes it has ‘leading edge’ policies in the area, which it treats as a core corporate social responsibility topic, and would like to work with other companies to agree common principles and actions, such as privacy pledges in corporate codes of conduct and privacy safeguards ‘designed in’ at an early stage of new product development – two measures that HP has already adopted.
Although negotiations have not yet begun, HP says there are ‘a couple of other businesses’ with which it could begin talks on drawing up ‘binding corporate rules for firms like us that are getting more explicit in this field.’ Barb Lawler, chief privacy officer at HP, said: ‘There is a tendency for companies not to think of privacy as a part of their CSR framework, but we have chosen very explicitly to do so. For us the ethical use of personal data we hold on customers, shareholders and employees is one of the key elements of being a responsible company. ’
HP has taken what it claims is the unusual step of adopting a global policy on the way it treats personal data gained through product orders, employee records, credit applications and software registration. Its code of conduct refers to the policy, which applies European Union requirements on the use of information such as phone numbers and email addresses across all HP’s operations – even if national law elsewhere is less restrictive.
David Lear, HP’s vice president of corporate responsibility, said the company had adopted a safety first policy on handling customer information because it regards privacy as an important factor in determining its reputation. He added that HP had deliberately taken a ‘very conservative’ approach, applying its policy to almost every customer interaction, especially online. ‘Many companies have policies that are a little more aggressive than ours, such as requiring customers to uncheck boxes rather than check them,’ said Lear. ‘Our view is that we should give customers complete control. And we also apply our policy to suppliers and resellers.’
Faris Natour, advisory services manager at Business for Social Responsibility, said more companies should be treating the subject in this way. ‘Privacy fits neatly into the overall set of issues referred to as CSR,’ she said. ‘The technical nature of privacy means that [others] will handle it rather than CSR generalists, but ... CSR people need to be aware of the issue and the expectations around it.’
The IT giant believes it has ‘leading edge’ policies in the area, which it treats as a core corporate social responsibility topic, and would like to work with other companies to agree common principles and actions, such as privacy pledges in corporate codes of conduct and privacy safeguards ‘designed in’ at an early stage of new product development – two measures that HP has already adopted.
Although negotiations have not yet begun, HP says there are ‘a couple of other businesses’ with which it could begin talks on drawing up ‘binding corporate rules for firms like us that are getting more explicit in this field.’ Barb Lawler, chief privacy officer at HP, said: ‘There is a tendency for companies not to think of privacy as a part of their CSR framework, but we have chosen very explicitly to do so. For us the ethical use of personal data we hold on customers, shareholders and employees is one of the key elements of being a responsible company. ’
HP has taken what it claims is the unusual step of adopting a global policy on the way it treats personal data gained through product orders, employee records, credit applications and software registration. Its code of conduct refers to the policy, which applies European Union requirements on the use of information such as phone numbers and email addresses across all HP’s operations – even if national law elsewhere is less restrictive.
David Lear, HP’s vice president of corporate responsibility, said the company had adopted a safety first policy on handling customer information because it regards privacy as an important factor in determining its reputation. He added that HP had deliberately taken a ‘very conservative’ approach, applying its policy to almost every customer interaction, especially online. ‘Many companies have policies that are a little more aggressive than ours, such as requiring customers to uncheck boxes rather than check them,’ said Lear. ‘Our view is that we should give customers complete control. And we also apply our policy to suppliers and resellers.’
Faris Natour, advisory services manager at Business for Social Responsibility, said more companies should be treating the subject in this way. ‘Privacy fits neatly into the overall set of issues referred to as CSR,’ she said. ‘The technical nature of privacy means that [others] will handle it rather than CSR generalists, but ... CSR people need to be aware of the issue and the expectations around it.’
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