Acxiom says it does not acquire information that could possibly be used for abortion prosecutions
In what they imagine to be the primary proposal on the problem, shareholder advocates have requested one of many world’s largest information brokers to review and launch a report on the way it can shield info that could possibly be utilized in abortion-related prosecutions.
Open MIC (Media and Data Firms Initiative), a nonprofit investor advocacy group that focuses on accountability at expertise and different corporations, submitted the proposal to the Interpublic Group of Cos.
IPG,
about its subsidiary, Acxiom, for consideration on the firm’s annual common assembly this summer time. Acxiom is among the largest corporations that collects and sells buyer info for advertising and marketing functions.
After Open MIC shared its proposal with MarketWatch on Thursday and stated it has didn’t have significant dialogue with the corporate on the problem, Acxiom advised MarketWatch it doesn’t acquire info that could possibly be used for potential investigations associated to abortions.
“Following revocation of the constitutional proper to an abortion in June 2022, policymakers are involved about the usage of private digital information for enforcement of state legal guidelines that ban or restrict abortion entry,” the decision reads, citing laws launched in Congress to spice up privateness safety and ban information brokers from promoting customers’ well being info.
The data Acxiom collects that would doubtlessly be accessed by legislation enforcement contains geolocation information, on-line exercise, web historical past, industrial transaction historical past and inferential information, in keeping with Open MIC’s proposal. IPG has not but launched its proxy.
“A giant a part of our concern actually comes all the way down to transparency,” Dana Floberg, Open MIC’s advocacy director, advised MarketWatch on Thursday. It’s unclear precisely what information Acxiom collects, Floberg added, in addition to “what sorts of measures they could or might not be taking to make sure they preserve that information protected, and what they flip over to legislation enforcement.”
The corporate’s privateness coverage says it turns over information “as essential … to answer legislation enforcement.”
However Axciom spokesperson Erin Tomaski advised MarketWatch on Thursday: “As we said in our discussions with Open MIC, we don’t acquire personally identifiable info that could possibly be utilized by legislation enforcement for abortion-related prosecutions.”
Tomaski stated the corporate doesn’t acquire information associated to medical clinics, hospitals, abortion clinics, colleges and locations of worship. Moreover, Tomaski stated Acxiom up to date its privateness coverage on account of its engagement with Open MIC, together with to specify that it doesn’t acquire individuals’s “motion” information, and doesn’t acquire info associated to visits to reproductive-health clinics.
Michael Connor, the manager director of Open MIC, stated what Acxiom shared with MarketWatch on Thursday “goes past what they advised us… We’re glad they’re going public now, however till now they’ve refused to do this.” He stated he continues to imagine what the proposal is requesting could be helpful as a result of the corporate’s board “ought to train due diligence relating to Acxiom’s insurance policies.”
Open MIC submitted its proposal in mid-December, and Connor stated its discussions with each IPG and Acxiom “haven’t been productive.”
The group is particularly asking for IPG’s board to contemplate enter from reproductive-rights and civil-liberties organizations, and “situation a public report assessing the feasibility of lowering the dangers of abortion-related legislation enforcement info requests and purchases by increasing client privateness protections and controls over delicate private information.”
Within the months for the reason that Supreme Court docket overturned Roe v. Wade, two dozen states have banned abortion or are contemplating doing so, in keeping with the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive-health suppose tank that helps abortion rights. Examples of on-line info being utilized in abortion investigations embody Nebraska police final 12 months reportedly utilizing Fb
META,
messages of a mom who allegedly helped her teenage daughter get an abortion.
Huge Tech corporations have additionally been pressured to handle considerations round information they acquire that could possibly be utilized in abortion investigations and prosecutions. Per week after the Dobbs v. Jackson Ladies’s Well being Group choice overruled the constitutional proper to abortion, Alphabet Inc.’s
GOOG,
GOOGL,
Google stated it could delete members’ location historical past for visits to abortion clinics and different delicate areas.
“Acxiom has the potential to set an ordinary for the business in optimistic (and unfavorable) methods,” Floberg stated. IPG has signaled its concern over the problem, they added; final 12 months, the corporate stated it could cowl journey prices for workers who want abortion care.
This story has been up to date with remark from Acxiom.