NY Times: Verizon Publishes First Transparency Report on Data Requests
The New York Times recently ran an article about Verizon Communications’ publication of a Privacy Transparency report. Brian X. Chen writes: “…In November, Trillium Asset Management, the activist investment firm, filed a shareholder resolution pressuring Verizon to publish a transparency report. In response to the report published on Wednesday, Jonas Kron, a senior vice president of Trillium, said he had yet to review the details of the report thoroughly, but was pleased with the progress. “Our goal in filing the shareholder proposal was to persuade companies to be issuing transparency reports. We’ve accomplished that goal,” he said. “We’ve now moved …
Washington Post: Tech Executives to Obama: NSA Spying Revelations are Hurting Business
Trillium recently filed a shareholder with Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) which asks the company to publish a semi-annual report detailing how often they have shared information with U.S. or foreign governments and what type of customer information has been shared. In collaboration with New York State Common Retirement Fund, Trillium also co-filed a resolution a similar resolution with AT&T (NYSE: T). The Washington Post is one of many media outlets that are reporting on the technology and telecommunication industries’ response to wide-spread and seemingly indiscriminate data collection by the U.S. and other governments. Cecilia Kang and Ellen Nakashima write: …
Guardian Sustainable Business: Privacy and Data Security: Why Should Investors Care?
On Tuesday, May 28, 2013, the Guardian Sustainable Business printed an Op-ed which is co-authored by Trillium’s Natasha Lamb, Corey Johnson of Pax World Funds and Michael Connor, the Executive Director of Open MIC, a non-profit organization that works with companies and investors on open media issues. The authors note: “…While privacy is vital to consumers, ensuring proper data management is also critical to investors in publicly-held US companies. Our research shows that even the largest and most sophisticated enterprises may not be adequately prepared to deal with these challenges. The Securities and Exchange Commission highlighted the importance of the …
Open Internet Proposal at Verizon Wins 24.1% of Shareholder Votes
NEW YORK, NY // May 2, 2013: About one-quarter of all Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) shareholder votes were cast in favor of a proposal that asks the company to report on business risks from Verizon’s controversial FCC lawsuit and other actions to oppose open Internet and network neutrality principles. Net neutrality is the principle that all Internet traffic should be treated equally and that Internet providers cannot block, speed up or slow down content for any reason. While Verizon has expressed its commitment to supporting an open Internet, it is currently the lead party in a lawsuit opposing the FCC’s …
Trillium Withdraws Shareholder Proposal at Apple Inc.
In response to Trillium’s recent shareholder proposal regarding privacy issues, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has updated its Board’s Audit and Finance Committee charter to include responsibility regarding regulatory, legislative, and reputational privacy risks that confront the company. Trillium’s proposal, which highlighted the business and social privacy risk and impacts that come with handling personal information, sought more clarity regarding Board oversight of these issues. The improvements to Apple Inc.’s governance will help the company protect the privacy of its customers and the wellbeing of the company. Accordingly, Trillium is pleased to withdraw the shareholder proposal. “We very much appreciated having …
Seasonal Wrap-up: Trillium's 2011 Engagement Highlights
Trillium Asset Management, LLC, a Boston-based pioneer in the field of environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing, reported out today on the results of its 2011 proxy season engagements with nearly two dozen major U.S. corporations. (For a full listing of our 2011 Shareholder Proposals, scroll to the end of the page.) “A good portion of our dialogues and resolutions resulted in agreements with companies to improve policies and provide more transparency,” said Matthew Patsky, CEO of Trillium. “Both are helpful in assessing the environmental, social and governance risks and their financial impact on shareholders.” Trillium’s ESG program addressed a …
Open MIC Announces Significant Shareholder Votes on Internet Privacy and Freedom of Speech
Investors in two major U.S. Internet Service Providers – CenturyTel, Inc. and EarthLink, Inc. – voted in substantial numbers in favor of a first-time shareholder resolution that highlighted the importance of Internet management practices and their impact on Internet privacy and freedom of expression. The resolutions, which were filed and voted on for the first time this year, attracted 30.49% of the vote at CenturyTel and 9.25% at EarthLink. Taken together, the votes mean that investors controlling stock worth more than $900 million voted in favor of the resolutions at the two companies. “This is the kind of vote that …
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