Data broker Acxiom promises not to collect info that could be used in abortion-related prosecutions
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One of the world’s biggest data brokers does not collect information that can be used for abortion-related prosecutions, it said publicly this week — after first disclosing that policy to MarketWatch last week.
Acxiom was facing a shareholder resolution, which MarketWatch was the first to report, asking for a report on the data it collects in light of the constitutional right to an abortion having been overturned by the Supreme Court last year. Acxiom parent Interpublic Group of Cos.
IPG,
on Wednesday made its commitment public, saying that it does not collect information that could be used to help law enforcement with abortion investigations or prosecutions.
“IPG and Acxiom have consistently been proponents of an ethical approach to the use of data in business,” IPG said in the statement on its website. “We continuously review and reconfirm that these practices ensure the privacy of individuals, particularly in light of the Dobbs [v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization] decision.”
Open MIC (Media and Information Companies Initiative), the investor advocacy group that was pushing the shareholder resolution, had been talking with Acxiom and IPG about the issue. The group’s director said last week that the company had not shared the same level of information with the group that it shared with MarketWatch for the original story.
“We gave them multiple opportunities to say that themselves, and they would not make a public statement,” Michael Connor, executive director of Open MIC, told MarketWatch last week. He also said his group’s talks with the companies had not been “productive.”
Because IPG has now followed up by publicly stating that Acxiom does not collect personally identifiable information related to sensitive locations such as abortion clinics, nor does it collect granular purchase data, Open MIC has withdrawn its proposal.
“As a leading global data broker, Acxiom has the power to set an industry standard for the protection of sensitive reproductive-health data,” Connor said in a statement. “We’re pleased to see IPG sharing its commitments publicly. It is clear shareholders can positively shape corporate practices.”
Acxiom has said it has a global reach of 2.5 billion consumers, which Open MIC cited in its proposed resolution as a reason for its concern.
Two dozen states have banned abortion or are considering a ban since the Dobbs decision in June, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a think tank that supports abortion rights.
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