Apple, LinkedIn Among ‘World’s Most Ethical’ Tech Companies In 2022

The annual honoree list for the “world’s most ethical companies,” put together by the Ethisphere Institute, hopes to guide consumers into making better choices in where to buy the latest devices.

This year, all seven nominees in the technology sector were US-based companies, with Apple—an industry behemoth—receiving recognition for the first time. Microsoft received its 12th honor, along with Dell who appeared on the list for the 10th time since its inception in 2006.

Following the two most-awarded firms was LinkedIn with its seventh nomination, Hewlett Packard and Western Digital with their fourth appearance, and HP with its third award. 

TechRepublic noted that Apple hadn’t been among the honorees before due to its ties with Suyin Electronics, a company that was found to have used child labor in its manufacturing plants. It’s been reported that the company took over three years to completely cut ties with its supplier despite knowing it had contravened ethical rules. 

Ethisphere said it uses a 12-person advisory committee to select each year’s winners, looking at over 200 data points across five main categories, including an organization’s ethics and compliance program (35%), its culture of ethics (20%), environmental and societal impact (20%), governance (15%), and leadership and reputation (10%). 

“The EQ framework features more than 200 multiple-choice and text questions that capture a company’s performance in an objective, consistent, and standardized way,” it explained on its site. 

In total, 136 businesses were recognized for their “unwavering commitment to business integrity,” with the firms situated across 22 countries and 45 different industries.

[via TechRepublic and Ethisphere Institute, cover image via Max421 | Dreamstime.com and DANIEL CONSTANTE / Shutterstock.com]