1. Our Commitment
Trusted Tech Africa is committed to fostering an inclusive, equitable, and respectful environment. We believe that responsible innovation is only possible when the people building and assessing technology are treated with dignity regardless of who they are. Discrimination and harassment undermine not only individuals but the broader project of building trustworthy technology.
This policy applies to our team, our platform users, our partners, and anyone who interacts with us in any capacity.
2. Protected Characteristics
We prohibit discrimination and harassment on the basis of any of the following characteristics:
- Age
- Disability (physical, mental, or cognitive)
- Gender identity or expression (including non-binary and gender non-conforming identities)
- Genetic information
- Marital or family status
- National origin or nationality
- Neurodivergence
- Pregnancy or parental status
- Race, ethnicity, or skin colour
- Religion or belief (or lack thereof)
- Sex or gender
- Sexual orientation
- Socioeconomic background
- Veteran or military status
- Immigration or citizenship status
- Any other characteristic protected by applicable law
3. What Constitutes Discrimination
Discrimination means treating a person less favourably because of a protected characteristic, or applying a policy or practice that disproportionately disadvantages people with a particular protected characteristic without objective justification. In the context of SafetyMeter, discrimination includes:
- Designing, marketing, or deploying technology that systematically disadvantages groups based on protected characteristics
- Using SafetyMeter's tools to generate outputs intended to justify or rationalise discriminatory technology practices
- Treating individuals with protected characteristics less favourably in communications with our team
4. What Constitutes Harassment
Harassment is unwanted conduct related to a protected characteristic that has the purpose or effect of:
- Violating a person's dignity, or
- Creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating, or offensive environment
Examples include (but are not limited to):
- Offensive, derogatory, or insulting comments about any protected characteristic
- Unwanted physical, verbal, or written contact
- Sharing or displaying offensive content (images, memes, jokes) related to a protected characteristic
- Deliberate misgendering or refusal to use a person's stated name or pronouns
- Threats, intimidation, or targeted abuse
- Sustained exclusionary or dismissive behaviour
5. Platform-Level Commitment
SafetyMeter is itself a platform designed to surface discrimination risk in AI and digital products. We hold ourselves to the same standard:
- Our scoring and harm modeling tools include explicit harm categories for algorithmic discrimination and marginalised group harm
- We regularly review AI-generated content for systematic bias, including outputs that may inadvertently normalise or downplay discrimination
- Our team is trained to identify and correct bias in the tools and content we produce
- We actively seek input from communities who are most affected by algorithmic harm to improve our frameworks
6. Reporting Discrimination or Harassment
If you experience or witness discrimination or harassment in connection with SafetyMeter or Trusted Tech Africa, please report it:
- Email: info@trustedtechafrica.com
- Subject line: Discrimination / Harassment Report — SafetyMeter
You can report anonymously if you prefer, though providing contact details helps us follow up. All reports are treated with strict confidentiality. We do not tolerate retaliation against anyone who reports in good faith.
7. Investigation Process
When we receive a report, we commit to:
- Acknowledging receipt within 5 business days
- Assessing the report promptly and impartially
- Taking interim protective measures where necessary
- Investigating thoroughly and confidentially
- Communicating outcomes to the reporter (within the limits of confidentiality obligations)
- Taking appropriate remedial action where a violation is confirmed
8. Consequences
Where a violation is confirmed, consequences will be proportionate to the severity of the conduct and may include:
- A formal warning
- Suspension or permanent termination of platform access
- Termination of partnership or contractor relationships
- Reporting to relevant regulatory or law enforcement bodies where conduct is unlawful
9. External Resources
If you are not satisfied with our response, or if the conduct involves a legal matter, you may contact:
- UK: Equality and Human Rights Commission
- EU: Your national equality body
- Africa: The relevant national human rights institution in your jurisdiction