Re:The connection between modern slavery and ecological disa...
by jdietrich on Tuesday March 08, 2016 @05:12PM
(#11249205)
The Prop 65 problem[1].
It's impossible to prove that the entire supply chain for any electronic device is 100% free of exploitative labour conditions. Metals are fundamentally untraceable and a modern device contains components from hundreds or even thousands of suppliers, sub-contractors and second sources. All it takes is one manager twenty steps down in the supply chain to lose a piece of paper and your chain of custody is broken for a sizeable batch of devices.
In practice, every electronic device would be required to carry such a warning label simply as a precaution, rendering it meaningless.
It's impossible to prove that the entire supply chain for any electronic device is 100% free of exploitative labour conditions. Metals are fundamentally untraceable and a modern device contains components from hundreds or even thousands of suppliers, sub-contractors and second sources. All it takes is one manager twenty steps down in the supply chain to lose a piece of paper and your chain of custody is broken for a sizeable batch of devices.
In practice, every electronic device would be required to carry such a warning label simply as a precaution, rendering it meaningless.
[1] http://oehha.ca.gov/prop65/background/p65plain.html