Today, the Global Network Initiative (GNI) is releasing a summary of case studies from the fourth GNI Assessment Cycle as a supplement to the 2021/2022 Public Report on Independent Company Assessments. These case studies represent a sample of the full set of cases that informed the determinations made during this last assessment cycle.
Each GNI company typically includes at least eight case studies as part of their assessment report. These cases help GNI assesses whether and how the company’s systems, policies, and procedures were implemented in practice, particularly when responding to government requests and demands. Case studies also help the GNI Board track progress and monitor whether a company is making good-faith efforts to implement the GNI Principles with improvement over time.
Just as the cases selected for inclusion in each assessment report are not a statistical sample of the thousands of government demands that GNI member companies receive, the cases in this supplement are not necessarily representative of the cases included in this cycle overall, since many of the most sensitive cases are not included. In addition, each of the cases included here have been abridged and edited to omit particularly sensitive details, both regarding the underlying cases and the discussions that they may have helped to spark. These cases nevertheless cover a range of topics and regions and demonstrate the different types of government requests that companies must navigate in a variety of circumstances and contexts.
The GNI assessment is the longest-running, most comprehensive mechanism for sharing non-public information across stakeholder groups about the commitments and methods that tech companies have undertaken to protect freedom of expression and privacy. These independent assessments demonstrate that amidst sustained threats to freedom of expression and privacy rights, users are benefiting from the implementation of the GNI Principles by participating companies.