The chief investment officer of one of Denmark’s labour-market pension funds took the floor at the virtual annual general meeting (AGM) of Google parent Alphabet on Friday to move a shareholder proposal on the impact of targeted advertising.

The proposal, filed by Shareholder Association for Research & Education (SHARE) on behalf of the United Church of Canada Pension Plan, as lead filer, along with other co-filers including AkademikerPension, was for the Alphabet board to publish an independent third-party human rights impact assessment of the actual and potential impacts of Google’s artificial intelligence-driven targeted advertising policies and practices, to be published by next June.

Anders Schelde, CIO of DKK157bn (€21bn) Danish pension fund AkademikerPension, said in his speech at the event: “Since 2021, shareholders have been engaging with Alphabet on AI-driven targeted advertising and the risks that such technology may pose to the company and its shareholders.”

Despite similar proposals at the US internet company’s previous two AGMs having received over 47% support from Class A shareholders, he said there had been no visible indication about Alphabet’s intention to implement the requested assessment.

Advertising accounted for more than 75% of Alphabet’s revenue, but research had shown targeted advertising technologies could negatively impact human rights, including violating privacy, freedom of expression, and perpetuating systemic discrimination and inequality, Schelde said, adding that all this could expose the company - and its shareholders - to significant reputational, legal, and regulatory risks.

“Yet, we do not believe that Alphabet has demonstrated to shareholders a robust due diligence system to identify, address, and prevent the adverse human rights impacts stemming from its targeted advertising technology,” he said.

The resolution was voted down at Friday’s AGM, however, having been opposed by Alphabet’s management, which had argued that its human rights governance and management structure provided effective oversight of key human rights risks and mitigation strategies.

“We have developed solutions based on privacy-enhancing technologies to address concerns similar to those raised in this proposal,” Alphabet’s management board said in the rationale for its recommendation.

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Rachel is IPE's Nordic correspondent. She has long been a freelance writer, and over the years, has written for The Telegraph, The Independent, The Observer, AMWatch and elsewhere. In 2001, Rachel's personal finance book Kickstart Your Money was published by John Wiley & Sons.View full Profile

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