Apple develops blockchain guidelines against ‘conflict minerals’

Apple has, according to a recent report that filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), contributed to the development of blockchain standards. In the report, Apple also describes how it protects human rights in conflict areas.

The Specialized Disclosure Report (SD) describes exactly what Apple did from 1 January to 31 December 2018 to protect human rights in areas where it uses raw materials for Apple products. In some countries miners are exploited and they work in harsh conditions. That is why the minerals from these areas are called conflict minerals.

Apple products such as iPhones, iPads and MacBooks contain a large amount of different minerals. For example, gold, lithium, aluminum and nickel are used in the products.

Apple says in 2018 to have worked on several global initiatives to combat conflict minerals as much as possible. One of these initiatives is the development of blockchain guidelines for the Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI) of the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA). The RBA is active worldwide for the responsible production of minerals.

In addition, in 2018 Apple has made a contribution to various working groups of the same alliance. The company would have helped to set up a blockchain team.

Blockchain is a technology that can also be extremely useful for the supply chains of companies. Raw materials can be tracked from start to finish using blockchain, with each step being stored on the blockchain. Albert Heijn supermarket also uses blockchain for these purposes. Customers can thus discover the origin of their apple juice in detail.