Acxiom makes public statement after disclosing the policy to MarketWatch amid pressure from shareholders
“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related to sensitive locations such as abortion clinics, nor does it collect granular purchase data, Open MIC has withdrawn its proposal.