A/HRC/50/56 companies, this includes that they must anticipate and address harms related to the use of their products and services, commonly referred to as the “end-use”. This corporate responsibility applies to all internationally recognized human rights (guiding principle 12, commentary). 29. The responsibility to respect human rights requires business enterprises to make a policy commitment to respect human rights, carry out human rights due diligence and provide remediation or cooperate in remediation of abuse where the company identifies adverse impacts that it has caused or to which it has contributed. 30. The quality of a company’s human rights due diligence and engagement with remedy will increase when these practices are supported by governance arrangements and leadership actions to ensure that a company’s policy commitment to respect human rights is embedded from the top of the business enterprise through all its functions, which otherwise may act without awareness or regard for human rights (guiding principle 16, commentary). Human rights “leads” in technology companies have a central role to play in embedding human rights considerations across processes and functions, stewarding ongoing engagement with civil society and other stakeholders, and informing the senior leadership’s decision-making. Buyin and support from the founders, executives and company governance bodies is critical to ensure meaningful human rights due diligence and advance corporate respect for human rights.28 1. Policy commitment 31. A key element of the corporate responsibility to respect human rights is that companies express their commitment to meet this responsibility through a publicly available statement of policy (guiding principle 16). This statement of policy should: be approved by the most senior level of the business enterprise; be informed by relevant internal and/or external expertise; stipulate the enterprise’s human rights expectations of personnel, business partners and other parties directly linked to its operations, products or services; be communicated internally and externally to all personnel, business partners and other relevant parties; and be internalized in the necessary operational policies and procedures throughout the business enterprise (guiding principle 16). A growing number of technology companies are publishing human rights policy commitments making explicit reference to the Guiding Principles.29 2. Human rights due diligence for the design, development and use of technology products and services 32. The requirement for companies to undertake human rights due diligence across their activities and business relationships to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address the actual and potential human rights harms connected to their business activities is a central element of their corporate responsibility (guiding principle 17).30 The human rights due diligence requirement extends to a company’s products and services. This is highly relevant when considering the impacts of digital technologies, as it is mostly in their use that human rights harms will manifest. For example, customers might misuse a product to commit human rights abuses (for example, an employer using social networking tools to monitor and intimidate employees or a State using technology for extrajudicial surveillance). 33. Human rights due diligence needs to occur early throughout the product design, development and use phases and must be an ongoing exercise. Because human rights situations are dynamic, the Guiding Principles stipulate that assessments of human rights impacts should be undertaken at regular intervals: prior to a new activity or relationship; prior to major decisions or changes in the operation; in response to or anticipation of changes in 28 29 30 See https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/reflections-status-business-respect.pdf. See also https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/2022-02/b-tech-leadership-dialogue.pdf and https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/strategic-aspects-part-I.pdf. See https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/reflections-status-business-respect.pdf. See https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/Business/B-Tech/identifying-humanrights-risks.pdf. 7