Code of Ethics.

Ethical and responsible guidelines that we use to run our company and guide our work with clients, community and our team.

If you are a potential client researching agencies and considering working with us, this information might also help you better understand what it’s like to work with Neon Kites.

Digital responsibility

As a digital sustainability company, Neon Kites is positioned to positively impact how people experience technology and design.

By following emerging digital responsibility principles, we can have a positive impact on society and the planet – an impact that is unique to our industry and business model.

Environment

The health of the environment is essential if we are to create a just society and achieve shared prosperity for all. Each of us has a responsibility to care for and nurture the planet we live on – and we take that responsibility seriously.

To honour our ecological commitment, Neon Kites will

Apply sustainability principles to our work
Strive for net-zero emissions in our company operations
Power our products and services with renewable energy whenever possible
Maintain a healthy work environment with ecological features, such as composting and living plants
Consider the systems-level implications of our work and, when possible, design ecologically-friendly solutions that include the planet as a stakeholder
Promote positive systems change when possible
When possible, apply regenerative and circular economy principles to our work: restore ecosystems rather than simply “do less harm”

Customers

We value our client relationships. Our clients are the reason we exist, so it’s important to us that they’re happy with our work.

We commit to working with clients whose values align with ours. We’re building a new model of success, where digital sustainability is an integral part. As creatives, we have the power to open minds and spread awareness and embed our green thinking into our clients’ businesses. Many have now started the shift towards using their business for good.

Here is how we apply our ethics to all of our customer relationships:

Privacy and security

Respect the privacy of client and user data by adhering to guidelines set forth by The General Data Protection Regulation (EU), and others

Maintain a baseline hardening against security attacks by identifying potential risks, keeping software up-to-date, and alerting clients whenever we discover a known threat.

Collaboration and transparency

To maintain great customer relationships that are mutually beneficial and based on trust and transparency, Neon Kites will:
· Prioritise honesty and transparency in all communications
· Value collaboration and co-creation to more efficiently execute projects
· Include customers and end users in our research, design, and testing processes
· Measure success and value: quantifiable solutions are easy to understand. We strive to create value across the spectrum

Green list.

We aim to work on projects that:

• Promote a healthy natural environment, such as clean energy and non-toxic goods
• Reduce consumption of physical goods
• Reduce waste
• Raise awareness of important environmental, social and ethical issues
• Tackle injustice
• Provide education
• Encourage and support healthy lifestyles
• Create and maintain a fair and well-functioning society

We also aim to work on projects where the client organisation:

• Promotes fairness and equality in the workplace
• Seeks to nurture positive long term relationships with our team, treat us as equal partners and respects us as individuals and professionals
• Pays all workers fairly
• Has strong, well documented social and environmental policies
• Is a social enterprise, non-profit or public organisation.

Red list.

We will not undertake projects that directly promote any of the following:

× Animal agriculture and animal products
× Arms, ammunition and conflict
× Discrimination or extremism
× Fossil fuels
× Gambling
× GM (that’s genetically modified crops, not General Motors!)
× Predatory financial services such as loan sharks
Tobacco
× Unhealthy products aimed at children.

We also aim to avoid working on projects where the client organisation:

× Has staff who are abusive to our team or other suppliers
× Has a proven record of lobbying against positive change
Has a proven record of environmental or human rights abuses

Grey list.

In practice, many projects do not fit neatly into a particular category because real life is a lot blurrier.

Many projects may fall into a grey area where they are seen neither as positive or negative, or may have a mixture of both positive and negative features, or have elements of things on our negative screening list but arguably do not directly promote these aspects.

If there’s ambiguity in a potential project, we should discuss it openly within the team and make a collective decision.

Screening of existing clients.

The above principles should not just apply to new clients. We should always aim to ensure that our ongoing client relationships are healthy and aligned with our values and needs as a team. In addition to keeping an eye on the above principles, we should also regularly check the following for existing clients:

Do we enjoy working with them and do they treat us with respect?
Are we the right fit for them and able to fulfill their needs?
Are they generally profitable?

Systems design and risk

Whilst we understand that some systems are outside our control. We commit to several important systems design practices to maintain adaptability:

Continually assess risk and evaluate resilience in the face of ongoing disruption
Support bottom-up, open-source, peer-to-peer knowledge commons
Check our process to be certain we are designing the most inclusive and accessible systems, products, and services possible
Release early and often, prototyping with real users whenever possible
Use care when modifying or retiring systems; better yet, plan for end-of-life from the beginning

Ethical marketing and advertising.

Honesty is our guide in all sales, marketing, and advertising. We will make only complete, factual, and truthful statements about our company and its services. We will also work with our clients to ensure information integrity in the communications and technology which we create on their behalf.

All advertising and marketing claims must be substantiated and must include all information and disclosures necessary to make them accurate and complete.

Take care to ensure all disclosures are written in a manner that is easily understood by the intended audience.
We must never disparage our competitors or make unfair comparisons between a competitor’s services and our own.
With new laws and regulations and increased political and media focus, it is critical to know the latest requirements on disclosures, privacy, and other legal constraints in this area.