While existing legislation such as France’s anti-corruption Sapin II law, and new and emerging regulations such as the EU whistleblowing directive, are a big part of this anticipated growth, a greater sensitivity to environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) issues is perhaps also at play here. The global governance, risk management and compliance (GRC) software market was pegged as a $1.3 billion industry last year, a figure size that’s predicted to hit $1.9 billion within six years. Brøgger is also now joining Whistleblower Software’s board of directors. To take things to the next level in preparation for the new EU directive, which will effectively cover some 400,000 companies across Europe by the end of next year, Whistleblower Software today announced that it has raised $3 million in a seed round of funding from investors including London-based VC firm West Hill Capital and Morten Brøgger, who was previously CEO at Huddle and secure messaging company Wire. However, if the company is deploying the software as it is intended, then it should give workers the option of selecting from a number of different parties - or perhaps more accurately, it should allow workers to deselect specific recipients to avoid any conflicts of interest.Ī Whistleblower Software spokesperson says that based on its experiences, around half the time an external third-party is the recipient of the report, and the other half it’s set up to be handled internally, such as HR, a compliance officer or C-level executive. This all leads us to one obvious remaining question: Who actually receives a report once a worker submits it? The answer is a somewhat unsatisfying “it depends,” given that the company itself sets up the flow for how a report is handled. Here, employees, contractors or anyone witness to dubious activities can provide all the details in writing, or by filing a report verbally - for this, Whistleblower Software automatically distorts the caller’s voice to prevent them from being identified. And Dutch banking giant ABN-AMRO, meanwhile, offers four ways for whistleblowers to report “wrongdoings or irregularities,” one of which involves hitting the “file a report” button on a dedicated application on Whistleblower Software’s website. Wrongdoings and irregularitiesįounded in 2021, the aptly-named Whistleblower Software has already amassed a slew of big-name customers in its 18-month history, including telecoms giant T-Mobile. With the deadline fast approaching, a new company has emerged out of Denmark to give businesses of all sizes the software they need to support all manner of whistleblowing activity, without compromising the identity of the complainant. The so-called whistleblowing directive came into force back in 2019, forcing most larger companies to deploy a robust internal reporting system that allows whistleblowers to report any misdeeds in confidence or complete anonymity, while also protecting them from dismissal or any other form of retaliatory tactics.īusinesses with 250 or more employees had to implement their system by the end of last year (2021), while those with 50 or more employees have until December 2023 to get their ship in order. At its core, whistleblowing is a way for anyone directly connected to a public or private body to bring attention to practices they feel contravene some law or code of conduct - no matter how big or small this contravention may be.Īnd it’s against that backdrop that the European Union (EU) is setting out to offer better protections for whistleblowers to report any misdemeanors they witness, anonymously and without fear of retribution. Oftentimes, it’s simply a case of a concerned employee wanting to report unethical or questionable activity at a relatively small scale, and raise their concerns with the right people internally to address issues before they become a public relations disaster. From Edward Snowden’s government surveillance revelations through the Facebook and Cambridge Analytica data harvesting scandal and Twitter’s recent security pitfalls, whistleblowers have been the driving force behind some of the biggest news stories of recent years.īut whistleblowing isn’t always about insiders shining a light on shady practices in governments or billion-dollar tech companies.
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