The Most Ethical Tech Stocks of 2026
Meta scored -50 on data privacy in our methodology. Oracle scored -40 on worker respect. NVIDIA scored -40 on weapons involvement.
These are three of the most widely held tech stocks on the planet. If you hold an index fund, your money is in all of them.
We scored the world's largest technology companies across 11 independent ethical dimensions using data sourced from court filings, regulatory actions, investigative journalism, and NGO reports. No corporate self-assessments. No PR-friendly disclosures. Just independently cited evidence processed through our scoring methodology.
The average tech company in our analysis scored negative. But 10 companies break through. Here they are.
1. Adobe (ADBE) -- Average Score: +12.3
Adobe tops the ranking with a +70 on Zero Waste & Sustainable Products -- the single highest individual score on any dimension in this list.
| Dimension | Score |
|---|---|
| Zero Waste & Sustainable Products | +70 |
| Safe & Smart Tech | +40 |
| Respect for Cultures & Communities | +25 |
| Fair Pay & Worker Respect | +10 |
| Fair Trade & Ethical Sourcing | +10 |
| Planet-Friendly Business | +10 |
That +70 is driven by Adobe's digital-only product model -- no physical manufacturing waste, no hardware disposal chain. The +40 on data privacy stands out for a company that handles creative data for millions of users. Six positive dimensions out of 11, with no score below -20.
View Adobe's full score breakdown
2. Salesforce (CRM) -- Average Score: +11.8
Salesforce ties for the highest governance score in this ranking at +60, driven by a clean regulatory record and transparent disclosure practices.
| Dimension | Score |
|---|---|
| Honest & Fair Business | +60 |
| Planet-Friendly Business | +40 |
| Safe & Smart Tech | +30 |
| Better Health for All | +20 |
The trade-off: Salesforce scored -20 on both worker respect and the weapons dimension. A +60 on governance alongside a -20 on worker rights is exactly the kind of split that a single ESG rating would average away. We show both.
View Salesforce's full score breakdown
3. EPAM Systems (EPAM) -- Average Score: +11.4
EPAM is the only large IT services company to score positively on worker respect in our methodology. For a firm with over 50,000 employees spread across Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Asia, that is not a trivial result.
| Dimension | Score |
|---|---|
| Safe & Smart Tech | +30 |
| Respect for Cultures & Communities | +25 |
| Better Health for All | +20 |
| Fair Pay & Worker Respect | +20 |
EPAM also scored +10 on No War, No Weapons, indicating no identified involvement in defence contracts based on public procurement records. A clean sheet on the dimensions that tend to trip up large tech employers.
View EPAM's full score breakdown
4. Autodesk (ADSK) -- Average Score: +11.4
Autodesk holds the second-highest environmental score in this ranking at +50. That number is backed by independently verified emissions reductions, not pledges.
| Dimension | Score |
|---|---|
| Planet-Friendly Business | +50 |
| Zero Waste & Sustainable Products | +30 |
| Respect for Cultures & Communities | +25 |
| Fair Pay & Worker Respect | +20 |
Four positive dimensions. No score below -10. The kind of profile that reads the same whether you find it in a sustainability report or in public regulatory filings.
View Autodesk's full score breakdown
5. Workday (WDAY) -- Average Score: +10.9
Workday builds HR software. Does it treat its own workers well? According to our scoring, yes -- +20 on Fair Pay & Worker Respect, paired with a +60 on governance.
| Dimension | Score |
|---|---|
| Honest & Fair Business | +60 |
| Planet-Friendly Business | +30 |
| Fair Pay & Worker Respect | +20 |
When a company scores well on both governance and worker respect, it typically signals institutional commitment rather than marketing. Governance structures create accountability. Worker respect scores confirm the outcome.
View Workday's full score breakdown
6. Intel (INTC) -- Average Score: +10.5
Intel's profile is a study in contradictions. It scored +60 on governance -- matching the top performers -- alongside a -30 on both environmental performance and the weapons dimension.
| Dimension | Score |
|---|---|
| Honest & Fair Business | +60 |
| Safe & Smart Tech | +30 |
| Zero Waste & Sustainable Products | +30 |
| Respect for Cultures & Communities | +25 |
The -30 on No War, No Weapons reflects the dual-use nature of its semiconductor products in defence applications, according to public contract records. This is why we score 11 dimensions instead of one. A single ESG grade of "B+" would hide both the +60 and the -30.
View Intel's full score breakdown
7. Apple (AAPL) -- Average Score: +9.5
Apple scored +50 on sustainability and +40 on environment. Strong numbers. But the supply chain data tells a different story.
| Dimension | Score |
|---|---|
| Zero Waste & Sustainable Products | +50 |
| Planet-Friendly Business | +40 |
| Better Health for All | +30 |
| Respect for Cultures & Communities | +25 |
| Safe & Smart Tech | +20 |
Apple scored -20 on governance and -30 on Fair Pay & Worker Respect, driven by supply chain labour findings documented in independent investigations. The company that leads the world on product recycling also carries one of the worst worker rights scores in our top 10.
For a deeper look at how Apple compares to peers on privacy, see our Google vs Microsoft vs Apple comparison.
View Apple's full score breakdown
8. Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) -- Average Score: +8.6
Cadence builds electronic design automation software. Most investors have never heard of it. That obscurity is part of the reason it scores well -- its products sit deep in the chip design process, far from the consumer-facing controversies that generate regulatory scrutiny.
| Dimension | Score |
|---|---|
| Planet-Friendly Business | +40 |
| Honest & Fair Business | +30 |
| Safe & Smart Tech | +30 |
| Respect for Cultures & Communities | +25 |
Four solid positive scores. No meaningful negatives. A quiet, clean profile.
View Cadence's full score breakdown
9. ANSYS (ANSS) -- Average Score: +8.2
ANSYS scored +30 on Fair Pay & Worker Respect -- among the best in this ranking. For context, Apple scored -30 on the same dimension. Meta scored -30. The gap is 60 points.
| Dimension | Score |
|---|---|
| Honest & Fair Business | +40 |
| Fair Pay & Worker Respect | +30 |
| Safe & Smart Tech | +30 |
Like Cadence, ANSYS operates in a specialist B2B segment. Fewer users means fewer data privacy risks. Fewer supply chain partners means fewer sourcing controversies. The pattern here is telling: the most ethical tech companies, as scored by independent evidence, tend to be the ones you have never heard of.
View ANSYS's full score breakdown
10. PTC (PTC) -- Average Score: +6.4
PTC rounds out the top 10 with the highest data privacy score in the ranking at +40. That matters because its industrial IoT products handle sensitive manufacturing data.
| Dimension | Score |
|---|---|
| Safe & Smart Tech | +40 |
| Fair Pay & Worker Respect | +30 |
| Honest & Fair Business | +10 |
| Planet-Friendly Business | +10 |
Three positive dimensions. No significant negatives. A modest but clean profile that closes out the list.
View PTC's full score breakdown
Notable Absences
The names most investors associate with "big tech" are not on this list. Here is where they scored in our methodology:
| Company | Average Score | Key Negatives |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft (MSFT) | +5.5 | -60 on No War, No Weapons -- one of the most negative scores in our database, reflecting extensive defence contract relationships documented in public procurement records |
| Alphabet/Google (GOOGL) | +2.3 | -30 on data privacy, -40 on governance. Multiple antitrust proceedings and regulatory actions across jurisdictions drive those numbers |
| Meta (META) | -14.5 | -50 on data privacy, -40 on governance, -30 on worker respect. The independent record of regulatory fines and privacy enforcement actions is extensive |
| NVIDIA (NVDA) | -9.1 | -40 on weapons involvement, -30 on ethical sourcing, reflecting documented defence AI applications and semiconductor supply chain concerns |
| Oracle (ORCL) | -13.6 | -50 on data privacy, -40 on worker respect, based on regulatory findings and employment-related legal proceedings |
The pattern is clear: the bigger the user base, the bigger the regulatory exposure. Companies that handle the most data, employ the most people, and win the most government contracts carry the most risk. For more on how the AI leaders specifically compare, see our AI Ethics Scorecard.
How We Score
Every score on Mashinii is built from independently verifiable sources -- regulatory records, legal proceedings, investigative reporting, and NGO documentation. Companies cannot influence their scores through self-reporting or voluntary disclosures.
We score across 11 independent dimensions, not a single blended rating. A company can score well on the environment but poorly on data privacy, and you see both numbers. That granularity is the point.
Learn more about our methodology
What This Means for Your Portfolio
If you hold a tech-heavy portfolio -- or any broad index fund -- companies like Meta, Oracle, and NVIDIA are likely in your holdings. Their ethical profiles may not match your values.
You can check in under 60 seconds.