Silicon Valley leaders are working on a 'tech pledge' they want companies to get behind — here's the draft

pulse

May 2, 2017 11:31 PM

Tech leaders are creating a "pledge" to support shared social, economic, and political values that they hope the industry can get behind.

Demonstrators protest against President Donald Trump's executive order banning travelers from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the US.

Tech leaders are creating a "pledge" to support shared social, economic, and political values that they hope all of Silicon Valley can get behind.

In a series of tweets posted May 2, Sam Altman, a top investor and president of startup accelerator Y Combinator, revealed the first draft of "The Tech Pledge." It asks tech companies to commit to keeping user data private and supporting legal immigration.

More tenets will be added to the pledge in the future. Altman and his fellow organizers — including are seeking feedback through May 16.

Business Insider first reported on the initiative in April, when Altman spoke at Commonwealth Club

Here's what the first draft of The Tech Pledge says. You can follow along as it develops here.

We will only provide individual user data to governments under correct legal process.
When legally possible, we will disclose requested statistics and notify users.
We will commit legal resources as necessary to fight unconstitutional or illegal orders.
We will not implement data privacy back doors on encryption.

We will provide legal assistance and pay the costs incurred for our immigrant employees who face challenges with border searches, or the immigration system generally.
We will provide support to efforts to keep the United States DACA policy in place.

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