Transparency in troubling times: The opportunities and challenges of corporate reported data

On March 12th, Wikirate hosted an event as part of the 15th annual Open Data Day celebrations. Throughout the event, three speakers discussed how data shapes their work, the challenges of accessing corporate transparency information, and the evolving role of open data in advocacy.

The speakers included:

• Laura Ranca from Tactical Tech’s Exposing the Invisible project, focuses on open-source research and corporate investigations;
• Kate Jelly from the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC), who specializes in labor rights within global supply chains;
• Luís Costa from the World Benchmarking Alliance, (WBA) who leads research on climate impacts and energy transitions.

Corporate-reported data remains an essential resource

With the turbulent environment for corporate accountability and sustainability in mind, the discussion highlighted that despite its flaws, corporate-reported data remains a crucial resource for advocates and researchers. It provides insight into company behavior, enables performance comparisons and, when used strategically, can reveal inconsistencies between what companies say and what they do.

Kate Jelly from the BHRRC highlighted that in the garment industry, the Rana Plaza tragedy catalyzed a push for greater transparency across the sector, resulting in companies voluntarily disclosing supplier lists. This data has been vital in connecting suppliers to buyers, which has helped advocates such as the BHRRC push for better labor standards for garment workers.

Laura Ranca from Tactical Tech highlighted how regulations can serve to improve corporate transparency. Specifically, she mentioned the Digital Services Act, which defines corporate responsibilities and obligations to ensure that digital services are safe for users. She mentioned that regulations like these help to set a baseline in terms of what rules companies must follow and the data they have to release to show compliance. In turn, this lets journalists, activists, investors, and advocates assess whether this data indicates that companies are fulfilling the requirements set out in the regulations.

Luís Costa from WBA mentioned that self-reported data can give insight into the extent to which companies consider ESG topics and how that measures up to their actual behavior. He and his team compared investment data on renewables to company disclosures and found a significant gap between actual investments and stated goals. While companies declared meaningful investments in renewables within the heavy-industry sector, actual efforts fell short. Taking it one step further, he and his colleagues were able to show that if companies adopted best practices and shared knowledge, climate targets and sustainable investment goals would be achievable.

Where corporate-reported data falls short

All three speakers agreed that corporate-reported data comes with serious limitations. Voluntary disclosures are often selective, inconsistent, and biased. Frequently, companies withhold data under the guise of competition, often in areas where transparency is most needed such as in labor conditions, emissions, and supply chain risks. For example, we found that recent data indicates a severe underreporting of modern slavery and labor violations throughout supply chains — highlighting that even though reporting obligations exist, companies frequently fail to disclose cases of abuse.

This can result in what’s called the “disclosure paradox” where companies are incentivized to be less transparent about potential violations. In this situation, companies that voluntarily disclose more information are at a greater risk of reputational damage. On the other hand, companies who are more opaque and fail to report don’t face the same scrutiny and have less reputational risk. This paradox likely contributes to the systematic underreporting of violations, meaning that we don’t know the true volume of abuse taking place.

Another issue with voluntary disclosures for company-reported data is that too often, it takes a tragedy to usher in the will to change policies and promote transparency. Waiting for a crisis like the Rana Plaza disaster to force transparency is a failure of responsibility; businesses must proactively disclose critical information to prevent harm, rather than responding only when disaster strikes. Civil society and other stakeholders should work together to influence companies to disclose more information, especially around supply chains where risks are highest and harm is most prevalent.

Civil society as the driving force despite headwinds

While political and other key actors are rolling back commitments to protect people and the planet across the world, civil society has an even more important role to play to achieve greater transparency.

Our panel reflected that it’s the role of CSOs to continue to fight for increased and effective regulation, and that we must find a way to keep the pressure on ourselves.

The discussion highlighted some key strategies to keep pushing for corporate accountability:

1. Leveraging competition: Benchmarks and rankings incentivize companies to improve disclosure as they seek a stronger public image.
2. Recognizing transparency efforts: Acknowledging companies that are more transparent, even when it reveals more incidents, is crucial. This approach highlights accountability rather than assuming that other companies are free of wrongdoing.
3. Capitalizing on high-visibility moments BUT not relying on them: In the past, major events have drawn public attention to corporate practices, however, we shouldn’t rely on such events to increase transparency.
4. Strengthening regulation: Robust policies and frameworks are essential to move beyond voluntary disclosures and establish transparency as a standard practice.
5. Collaborative efforts: Civil society, journalists, trade unions, and workers can collectively amplify pressure on companies.
6. Consumer and investor pressure: Demand for higher transparency standards from consumers and investors plays a significant role in pushing for change.

Open Data Day provides a rare and valuable space for researchers, activists, and civil society to come together, exchange knowledge, and build stronger alliances. These gatherings foster collaboration across sectors, helping participants identify shared challenges and co-develop solutions.

Beyond promoting access to data, Open Data Day highlights the importance of people working behind the scenes: those who use data to expose injustices, challenge power, and advocate for a more transparent, accountable world. By sharing methodologies, tools, and success stories, events like this contribute to a growing movement that demands better from business and better protections for people and the planet.