Launched in time for the holiday shopping season, Free2Work's iPhone app hopes to educate consumers about forced and child labour. It gives ratings for products like Hasbro’s Beyblades, Pillow Pets, Apple’s iPad and other popular items. Manufacturers are assigned grades based on their policies, implementation, employee empowerment, response to child labor and transparency.

Free2Work was developed by the Not for Sale Campaign and the International Rights Forum. Bama Athreya, Executive Director of the International Labor Rights Forum, explains: “A broad range of certification programs exist that claim to protect worker rights. The volume and variety of these systems and product labels can be confusing to consumers. Free2Work helps to reduce the confusion and demonstrate to consumers how each program differs.”

This is a first step to increased transparency about child and forced labour, helping consumers make informed shopping decisions that could pressure brands into ensuring that their factories and those of their suppliers are entirely free of forced labour.