Global Witness is an international organization that reports on the changes taking place throughout the world, what the impact of these changes will be on consumers and what the implications are for the global economy. The author of the report "What is consent management system doing to our planet? The consent process for resource consent for big business has become obsolete. The Consent Management System for big business is very complex. Resource consent for resource consent management is not as robust as it used to be and there's real threats to the environment, to human health and to the environment.
Global Witness on trust discusses how governments are slowly getting fed up of being intruded upon by big business, that the consent process that businesses need to go through in order to get the right to extract raw natural resources from the land and water is often not well conceived of, that it hinders grassroots groups trying to stop such extraction. It also discusses how corporations use state-of-the-art surveillance tools and hidden cameras and microphones that can steal and misuse of intellectual property and trade secrets. Corporations are not always forthcoming about how much they are spending on environmental damages and they refuse to pay for damages caused by their own wrong doings. Corporations have not been keeping to the law on the front end either as they pollute the air and water at their own expense without impunity.
This report is a wake up call to governments and private companies to protect the environment, to protect the people who live amongst us and to ensure that consent management systems work properly. That is something governments and corporate executives need to understand. We cannot allow consent management information technology to advance to the point where the personal information that flows through such systems is not secure. The end user of such personal information needs to know that if their consent is not required in order to access some or all of that information then their privacy will never be safe.