When companies provide widely relied-upon services, how they handle documented ethical issues matters at a societal level, not just a corporate one
Ethoscore analyzes how companies respond when ethical issues become public based on court records, regulatory actions, and verified investigations
Ethoscore is designed with the following characteristics:
Ethoscore is an early-stage system that evaluates companies based on documented ethical performance—how they respond when actions are examined by courts, regulators, and credible investigators.
Scores reflect public information only. Many aspects of company culture and ethics are not captured in formal records.
Ethoscore Data InputsExplore a Sample ScoreHow Ethoscore is FundedView Scoring Methodology: How Ethoscore WorksEthoscore as a tool: Comparative Analysis of Corporate Responses over timeEthoscore aggregates publicly documented information to help users understand how companies handle ethical issues once they enter formal scrutiny.
Ethoscore reflects documented public information only. Many aspects of company culture and private behavior are not captured.
Ethoscore analyzes companies using publicly documented information to help people better understand corporate ethical behavior and risk with clear limits on what can and cannot be measured.
Rather than making moral judgments, Ethoscore organizes existing evidence into a structured, interpretable framework.
Ethoscore is built on the idea that how a company behaves and how much impact that behavior can have are related — but not the same. For that reason, each company is evaluated across two distinct dimensions:
This measures how a company has responded to ethical issues once they became public.
We analyze patterns found in:
• Court records and legal filings
• Regulatory actions and enforcement outcomes
• Credible investigative journalism
• Verified reporting from trusted institutions
This dimension focuses on:
• The nature of documented incidents
• The consistency of a company’s responses
• Evidence of accountability, remediation, or repeated failures
Systemic Risk reflects how much harm a company could cause if ethical failures occur, based on its scale and role in society.
This includes factors such as:
• Market dominance and dependency
• Essential services or infrastructure reliance
• Switching costs for consumers or institutions
• Concentration of power across sectors
A company can:
• Handle documented issues responsibly but still pose high systemic risk, or
• Pose low systemic risk but show poor ethical performance when issues arise
Separating these dimensions prevents false equivalence and provides clearer insight into where risks actually lie.
1. Relevant public documentation is collected and verified
2. Patterns of response and accountability are evaluated
3. Scores are adjusted to reflect systemic impact
4. Confidence levels are assigned based on data completeness
Scores reflect available documentation and may be revised as methodology evolves or new information emerges.
Ethoscore is designed as a continuously reviewed system rather than a static rating product.
Evaluations are produced using documented public information available at the time of review. As new information emerges, methodologies are refined, or interpretive standards evolve, prior scores may be revisited to maintain internal consistency and analytical integrity.
This system incorporates periodic internal audits, methodological reviews, and consistency checks across evaluations to ensure that scoring decisions remain aligned with stated principles, evidentiary standards, and scope boundaries.
Reviews may be initiated when materially relevant public information becomes available, when documented methodological refinements are adopted, or when internal consistency checks indicate reassessment is warranted. Any resulting score revisions reflect updated evidentiary records, clarified interpretive standards, or improved analytical consistency, rather than isolated events, public sentiment, or short-term fluctuations.
Continuous improvement is a foundational feature of Ethoscore. Changes to methodology, weighting, or interpretation are made cautiously, documented transparently, and applied consistently across companies to avoid retroactive bias or selective adjustment.
Ethoscore does not claim finality. It aims to remain accurate, adaptable, and accountable as the public record evolves.
Ethoscore evaluations rely on documented public information available at the time of review and may not reflect non-public, undisclosed, or emerging information.
Ethoscore does not assess intent, internal culture, or private decision-making beyond what is supported by verifiable external evidence. Scores should not be interpreted as definitive judgments of corporate character or future conduct.
The framework identifies patterns of behavior, response, and accountability over time. It does not predict specific events or guarantee future outcomes.
Scores are comparative and contextual. Industry structure, regulatory environments, disclosure practices, and data availability may influence results. Cross-company or cross-sector comparisons should be interpreted accordingly.
Ethoscore is an analytical reference tool and does not replace legal, financial, or professional due diligence.
Companies with sophisticated legal strategies may appear more ethical than they are due to reduced documentation. This limitation affects all documentation-based assessment systems.
Ethoscore is an independent, early-stage project founded by Eugen Pohoata.
The work began from a recognized gap: while companies are increasingly judged on ethics, most existing systems rely on self-reported data, marketing disclosures, or opaque scoring methods that are difficult to trust or compare.
Ethoscore is an attempt to take a different approach — grounding evaluation in publicly documented evidence, separating ethical behavior from systemic risk, and being explicit about what can and cannot be measured.
The project is intentionally small, iterative, and transparent. Methodology is developed cautiously, feedback is actively sought, and limitations are acknowledged rather than obscured.
Ethoscore is not affiliated with any company, government, or investment firm. It is built independently, with the goal of contributing a clearer, more honest lens on corporate accountability
Ethoscore is currently operating in a limited pilot phase. Scores reflect current methodology and available data. As we refine our approach based on feedback and testing, scores may be recalculated. Material changes will be disclosed and explained.
Early-stage pilot. Methodology v1.0 Scores may be revised as the system is tested and refined.
Last Updated: January 2026 Methodology v1.0