Samsung Electronics — Ethics Grade C-

Samsung Electronics receives an overall ethics grade of C- (41/100) on CancelCo's corporate accountability database. Sector: Technology. Market cap: Mega Cap.

Category scores

• labor: 20
• privacy: 55
• consumer: 50
• environment: 40
• humanRights: 30

Documented incidents (3)

• Semiconductor factory cancer cluster (high, 2018) — Workers in Korean chip factories developed leukemia and other cancers at elevated rates. Samsung denied responsibility for decades before apologizing in 2018.
• Child labor in supply chain (high, 2020) — Reports found children as young as 14 working in cobalt mines in DRC supplying Samsung's battery supply chain.
• Bribery scandal (high, 2017) — Vice Chairman sentenced to prison for bribing South Korean president. Part of systemic corruption tied to Korean conglomerates.

Documented good deeds

• Galaxy Upcycling program — Repurposes old smartphones into IoT devices, reducing e-waste. Expanded to 160+ countries.

Ethical alternatives

• Fairphone — Modular, repairable phones with fair-trade minerals and living-wage factories.