Together, we are guiding the retail industry towards adopting more respectful technology by putting customers and their digital rights at the centre.
The Ethical Commerce Alliance (ECA) was created in early 2022 to answer these questions. A human-centred industry network, the ECA was established with Empathy.co as the founding partner.
Devoted to creating search and discovery experiences for eCommerce, Empathy.co started to question transparency, and implement ways to uphold privacy, ensuring respectful and ethical practices within the retail industry.
From this ethical breeding ground, Empathy.co, a company devoted to creating search and discovery experiences for ecommerce, started to explore their responsibility beyond the company boundaries. Based on the values of trust, understanding, and joy,
We set ethical values atop every retail agenda because we believe ethical values are not a luxury but a necessity to sustain a healthy, thriving economy and society.
So, we need to guide the retail industry towards adopting more respectful technology by putting customers and their digital rights at the centre.
Our general guidelines foster digital trust and ethical values, specifically for AI-powered online commerce.
Leverage the benefits of AI to create innovative and disruptive products and features without compromising your customers’ privacy, security, and consent.
Appreciate every customer's right to be forgotten and their request for privacy. They can give or withdraw explicit consent for the use of their data at any time.
Treat customers as human beings and put their digital rights first. Exploiting personal data is ultimately more harmful than beneficial to businesses as they lose customers’ trust.
Create a conversation between retailers and customers based on comprehension. Customers should be able to easily understand how, where, and why their data is processed.
Foster a vibrant ethical movement that encompasses different perspectives and creates opportunities for better ideas and results.
Provide a welcoming culture that is open for everyone, indifferent of their situations, conditions, or backgrounds. Minimise the effect of biases in AI-powered products and features with domain-specific datasets.
Transfer the control over their data to customers. The entity requesting personal information needs to ensure the sole data owner is the person identified in the data.
Become the model role you cannot find elsewhere. As technology and research progresses, so must the regulations around data ethics. The ECA will be kept up to date by being open and willing to explore new perspectives to pave the way for higher ethical standards and a safer digital world.