Google Pixel

How ethical is Google Pixel?

Google Pixel, a mobile phone brand owned by Alphabet Inc. is given a low Ethical Rating by The Good Shopping Guide. Unfortunately, this brand receives a low Good Shopping Guide Ethical Score in our Ethical Mobile Phones Ratings Table and has therefore not yet met our minimum Ethical Benchmark.

In which areas does Google Pixel perform poorly?

As part of its quest to lengthen human life, Calico Labs intends to utilise naked mole rats to discover how to slow ageing. According to MIT Technology Review, Calico, which stands for California Life Company and is owned by Alphabet, the parent company of Google, has received $1.5 billion (£1.2 billion) in funding to conduct research on mice, yeast, worms, and African naked mole rats to better understand ageing and how to slow it.

A low rating is given for our Animal Welfare criteria as research into extending human longevity is not necessarily improving the quality of human health and medical well-being.

Google and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia

The establishment of a Google Cloud in Saudi Arabia has been put on hold as Google considers how to reduce the negative effects on Human Rights. Saudi Arabia is an unsafe country to host Google Cloud services due to its recent history of repressing all forms of public dissent, allegations of espionage and infiltration of technology platforms, use of cyber surveillance software to spy on dissidents, and a notorious justice system that flagrantly violates due process rights. Regardless of a state’s desire to uphold its own commitments in this area, Google has a duty to respect human rights. Giving Saudi Arabia more equipment to spy on its people is irresponsible and not supportive of human rights.

Google and Child Labour in the DRC

Parents of children who were killed in mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where batteries for tech companies like Microsoft, Apple, Google, and Dell were produced, have filed a lawsuit in federal court. Despite vehemently criticising what is occurring in the mines, the businesses contend that they are not to blame for child labour in the DRC and that the case should be dropped. Due to the fact that the cobalt in their batteries cannot be linked to a single mine, it is impossible to determine which mines the companies use. The lawsuit was brought by the human rights organisation International Rights Advocates in Washington, DC, and names Apple, Dell, Microsoft, Tesla, and Google as defendants.

For these and multiple other Human Rights violations and criticisms, Google Pixel has scored very low in our criteria.

In what areas does Google Pixel perform well?

Google provides a thorough Environmental Report that details both accomplishments and goals, and for this, we have awarded Google a good rating for our Environmental criteria. Achievements in this report include greater computing efficiency and an “86% decrease in carbon intensity… since 2011”.

Google Pixel has also received an ECOLOGO certification and appears on the EPEAT registry of companies whose products have been assessed for both environmental and social impact.

How can the Google Pixel brand improve its Ethical Rating? 

The Good Shopping Guide’s score results from 15 ethical criteria in relation to Google Pixel. To reach our Ethical Benchmark and qualify for our Ethical Accreditation, Google Pixel has several issues to deal with, including its commitment to Human Rights and Animal Welfare.

If your mobile phone brand values ethics and sustainability, why not check out The Good Shopping Guide‘s Ethical Accreditation? Increase customer and investor confidence and stand out from the greenwash.