On 31 January, Germany’s young federation of crowdsourcing companies presented a detailed version of the first code of conduct of its kind in the country and perhaps even in Europe that addresses companies in this burgeoning sector. The text contains ten principles that were formulated in conjunction with the IG Metall union and that aim to clarify the relationship between the platform that offers employment and the crowdworkers themselves as well as the platforms’ obligations to crowdworkers. The code looks to restrict unfair competition and low-level social rights in what is expected to be a rapidly growing sector. Currently eight companies including a UK company have adhered to the code on a voluntary basis.
A European first. The initiative to create a code of conduct for German and international crowdsourcing companies and platforms came from the Munich based startup company Testbirds, which employs eighty-five staff on a permanent basis as well as providing work for up to 200,000 crowdworkers – independent internet users who carry out tasks of varying levels of complexity online and that are oftentimes badly paid, and advertised by web-based platforms. Testbirds specializes in testing apps for mo
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