Disclosure Statement on Modern Slavery Act for the calendar year 2024

Overarching Statement

Blancco Technology Group Limited and its subsidiary (collectively referred to as “Blancco”) is strongly committed to prevent and eliminate all forms of practices of slavery, servitude, forced labor and human trafficking within the organization and its supply chains. All our business operations are carried out with deep regards to ethics and integrity to protect the human rights of people who work with us.

We have zero tolerance approach towards all forms of slavery and we demand our suppliers to adopt the same approach.

This statement is made in accordance with Section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act, 2015 and constitutes our Modern slavery and human trafficking statement for the calendar year 2023.

Our Business

Blancco, a carbon neutral supplier provides organizations with secure, compliant and automated solutions that accelerate the transition to the circular economy. Every year, tens of millions of Blancco erasures allow businesses and organizations to protect end of life data against unauthorized access, safety redeploy data storage assets and firmly comply with the increasing data protection and privacy compliance requirements.

With nearly 25 years of responding to customer needs and 35+ patented or patent-pending ideas, Blancco is the industry standard in data erasure and mobile lifecycle solutions. Our dedication to technological innovation empowers top-tier enterprises, IT Asset Disposition (ITAD) vendors, and mobile industry stakeholders to protect end-of-life data against unauthorized access, comply with data protection requirements, extend the useable life of IT assets, accelerate operations, and enhance the mobile customer experience. Read more about us at blancco.com.

Our Supply Chain

Our operations are supported by a global supply chain for goods and services. Suppliers to Blancco includes:

• Contractors and subcontractors;
• Products and services for staff support and office maintenance, such as catering, cleaning, and waste management;
• IT infrastructure support, cloud services;
• Recruitment agencies;

Most of our suppliers are EU based and global suppliers of IT equipment and infrastructure. We conduct our business in accordance with relevant laws and regulations, and we require all our suppliers to do the same, including compliance with Modern Slavery Act, 2015. Our Code of Business Conduct outlines our expectations in this regard. As such we have no reason to believe that there is slavery or any human trafficking in our supply chains. Slavery and Human trafficking are considered as a zero-tolerance issue for Blancco Group and non-adherence or non-compliance if not resolved within a timely manner, Blancco shall terminate the business relationship.

Identifying And Managing The Risks

Concerning the business model and supply chains of Blancco until now, it is evident that the risk of modern slavery within our operations and supply chain remains low. Blancco mandates all prospective suppliers to demonstrate their capability to meet our contractual obligations. We hold our suppliers to high standards of conduct, both in their dealings with us and our customers. Any behavior contradicting our codes and policies will not be tolerated.

Policies

Blancco has set forth number of policies to prevent and eliminate the risk of modern slavery within organization and in our supply chain.

Global Purchasing Policy

This policy mandates and directs all the representatives of Blancco to purchase the goods or services and to deal only with the suppliers who are legally and ethically compliant with all the applicable laws of their concerned jurisdiction especially employment and wage laws or codes.

Anti-Corruption and Bribery Policy

This policy outlines the practices which must be adhered by all persons working for us or on our behalf in any capacity, Blancco does not donate money to any political party of any country and makes charitable donations which are legal and ethical under local laws and practices. Any person may report any act of corruption or bribery through the helpline numbers provided in our Whistleblower Policy.

Whistleblower Policy

This policy educates and encourages the employees of Blancco to report list of practices which are detrimental to the interests or reputation of Blancco. People may also utilize these means to report any information or incident to prevent or eliminate modern slavery.

Health Safety and Environmental Policy

This policy provides guidelines to the organization and its employees to ensure at all times the continued health, safety and the well-being of staff, visitors and contractors. This policy to a larger extent prevents and eliminates the risk of modern slavery.

Diversity and Inclusion Policy

This policy amplifies Blancco’s commitment to creating an environment where each and every employee is treated with dignity, supported to their full potential and respected for their differences. Blancco strives to make sure that no body is subjected to modern slavery or any kind of inhumane treatment owing to their differences.

UN Global Compact

For the year 2022, Blancco has also become a member of United Nations Global Compact https://polaris.brighterir.com/public/blancco/news/rns/story/w0m9lpx . The UN Global Compact is a call to companies everywhere to align their operations and strategies with ten universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption, and to take action in support of UN goals and issues embodied in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and we at Blancco are committed to actions leading to Sustainable Development Goals, which includes zero tolerance for any form of slavery.

Training

Periodical trainings are conducted for employees at all levels of the organization to educate them about the various practices of modern slavery. These training sessions make the stakeholders aware of the necessary issues and indicators which they must keep in mind to ensure the organization practices and the supply chain are free from modern slavery.

Our Effectiveness In Combatting Human Trafficking Or Slavery

Blancco regularly evaluates the nature and extent of its exposure to the risk of slavery or human trafficking occurring in its supply chain. Where we do identify a potential risk, we will take steps to remediate it through legitimate and proportionate processes. To this date, we have not identified any current suspected incidences of modern slavery in our supply chain.

To identify and monitor the risk of slavery and human trafficking in Blancco’s supply chain, we have commenced mapping our suppliers and supply chain. Several higher risk vendors have already been identified and assessed and addressed in terms of risk of modern slavery and human trafficking. We have furthermore introduced the first company Procurement and Supply chain processes, to minimize the likelihood that slavery and human trafficking will occur in our supply chain.

THIS STATEMENT HAS BEEN APPROVED AND IS FULLY SUPPORTED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND IS MADE PURSUANT TO SECTION 54(1) OF THE MODERN SLAVERY ACT 2015.

Signed by Satoru Ogawa,
CFO For and on behalf of Blancco Technology Group Limited and its subsidiary companies
Date: 30th April 2024