There has been a proliferation of digital technology initiatives designed to improve conditions for migrant workers and address forced labour. These include, for example, platforms assisting workers to articulate and report exploitation within supply chains, evaluate recruiters and employers, or make secure recruitment or salary payments. Digital technology offers the promise to transform the labour migration landscape and to empower workers in new and previously uncontemplated ways, but also carries with it a host of risks and challenges.
This project takes stock of these initiatives so that lessons can be learned in developing more effective future platforms that are used by migrant workers and result in improved choices and outcomes, and that meaningfully address risks to users and platform hosts. In 2018 we undertook the first global study of digital technology initiatives designed to improve migrant worker protection and enable access to justice, funded by the Open Society Foundation’s International Migration Initiative.
TRANSFORMATIVE TECHNOLOGY FOR MIGRANT WORKERS: OPPORTUNITIES, CHALLENGES AND RISKS
Transformative Technology for Migrant Workers maps the range of digital tools that have been developed for migrant worker engagement, analysing the problems they are seeking to address and the ways in which they do this. It considers the conditions that promote (or inhibit) effective uptake and outcomes for workers. By identifying practical, legal, ethical and technological issues and risks for both migrant workers and platform-host organisations, the report is intended to promote a well-considered, migrant-centred approach to the development and implementation of disruptive digital interventions by funders and other stakeholders globally.
ADDRESSING EXPLOITATION IN SUPPLY CHAINS: IS TECHNOLOGY A GAME CHANGER FOR WORKER VOICE?
This article, published in the Anti-Trafficking Review, examines the emergence of digital worker reporting tools within the broader political economy of supply chain governance. It presents three sets of concerns about their use that must be addressed by businesses, investors, donors and governments that develop or utilise these tools. First, the quality of data gathered by these tools may be inadequate to reliably inform decision-making. Second, global brands may gather large quantities of worker data to identify legal, reputational and financial risks without addressing structural causes of exploitation or delivering outcomes for workers. Third, large scale collection of data from workers creates new risks for workers’ wellbeing and safety.