About us
This campaign was launched by Privacy International (PI) on 15 January 2025 with the support of 12 organisations.
PI is a London-based non-profit, non-governmental organisation that researches and advocates globally against government and corporate abuses of data and technology. It exposes harm and abuses, mobilises allies globally, campaigns with the public for solutions, and pressures companies and governments to change. PI challenges overreaching state and corporate surveillance so that people everywhere can have greater security and freedom through greater personal privacy.
Why this campaign?
From years spent investigating, documenting and exposing the impact of algorithmic management and workplace surveillance on workers, from drivers to content creators to data labellers, it is clear that lack of access to information and understandability of the systems than manage them negatively impact workers affected.
In light of the poor track records of the major companies on the topic, we decided to produce detailed recommendations for actors implementing algorithmic management to greatly improve transparency and explainability. Transparency and explainability are not a silver bullet to exploitative and harmful practices, they are but a necessary step to a future where workers’ rights, autonomy and dignity are respected, and where developers and deployers of systems are held accountable.
The demands published on this site are the result of this work. While framed for gig-economy platforms, we believe that at their core they can be transposed to any system deployed to manage workers through algorithmic means. We note that collective bargaining is an important vehicle through which the information asymmetries caused by the use of opaque automated decision making tools can be addressed. In particular, where collective agreements are in place they should afford workers with access to meaningful information concerning the development and deployment of algorithms, including if necessary on a confidential basis. Algorithmic transparency, if effected uniformly to platform workers, would facilitate a shared understanding of how workers are being managed and allow for the building of real collective bargaining power; thereby addressing the wider power imbalances that characterise the use of automated decision making to make significant decisions concerning workers. However, even where collective agreements are not in place employers should take steps to improve transparency and accountability in line with these recommendations.
Our recommendations have been reviewed and have gathered the support of many including Unions, CSOs, NGOs and academics. You can find the full list of supporters below.