THE INTERPUBLIC GROUP OF COMPANIES, INC. | Reproductive rights and data privacy at THE INTERPUBLIC GROUP OF COMPANIES, INC.

Status
Withdrawn
AGM date
Resolution details
Company ticker
IPG
Lead filer
Open MIC (Open Media and Information Companies Initiative)
Resolution ask
Report on or disclose
ESG theme
  • Social
ESG sub-theme
  • Digital rights
  • Public health
Type of vote
Shareholder proposal
Filer type
Shareholder
Company sector
Consumer Discretionary
Company HQ country
United States
Resolved clause
RESOLVED: Shareholders request the Board issue a public report assessing the feasibility of reducing the risks of abortion-related law enforcement information requests and purchases by expanding consumer. The report should be produced at reasonable expense, exclude proprietary or privileged information, and published within one year of the annual meeting.
Whereas clause
WHEREAS: Following revocation of the constitutional right to an abortion in June 2022, policymakers are concerned about the use of personal digital data for enforcement of state laws that ban or limit abortion access. As one of the world’s largest data brokers, these changes could have significant impact on IPG subsidiary, Acxiom. Congress is considering legislation that increases privacy protections for personal reproductive health information. California bars corporations based in the state from sharing personal data with out-of-state law enforcement regarding any investigations concerning an abortion that is lawful in California. Law enforcement frequently relies on digital consumer data. While Acxiom does not report figures on government requests, Alphabet and Meta – which retain less data on individuals than Acxiom1 -- collectively received about 110,000 requests in the second half of 2021. 2 Each complied with about 80 percent of requests. In 2022, Meta satisfied a Nebraska warrant for private Facebook messages from a mother facing felony charges for allegedly helping her daughter terminate a pregnancy,3 receiving significant negative press. Acxiom has personal data on over 2.5 billion consumers worldwide, 4 including geolocation data, internet activity, commercial transaction history and inferential data. This data could be accessed without consumer consent by states that criminalize abortion. The Company’s privacy policy allows disclosure of personal information “to respond to law enforcement.”5 Law enforcement could also purchase data from Acxiom6 regarding a customer’s activities that were legal in the state where they occurred, such as visiting an abortion clinic. In this way, Acxiom lags competitors like Experian, which ceased selling abortion-related datasets in 2016. IPG’s Human Rights policy says: “We strive to ensure that data…are used across the enterprise and with IPG clients in ways that build trust and serve all people.” 7 Yet Acxiom is susceptible to abortion-related law enforcement requests that may create significant reputational, financial, and legal risks. Although the Company already offers consumers the right to make data deletion requests, there is strong brand benefit to increasing consumer privacy expectations.

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