MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA – Shareholders of Google parent Alphabet Inc. on Wednesday rejected several proposals aimed at linking executive pay to diversity goals, being more open about lobbying, narrowing the gender-pay gap, and weakening the grip founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin have on company voting stock.
The rejection was not a surprise given the company had declared itself opposed to the proposals — in many cases because it said it is addressing the broader issues in other ways — and because Page and Brin control 51 percent of the voting power.
But the proposals reflected the increasing concern about the search giant’s huge influence on technology and its impact on society. Some Google employees came out in favor of the diversity proposal, including Irene Knapp, a Google engineer who read a statement supporting it.
“I very much felt heard by stockholders,” Knapp said afterward.
The diversity proposal was backed by social investor Zevin Asset Management, which pushed it at 12 publicly traded technology firms this year. Zevin said its proposal was challenged by eBay, excluded from Apple’s shareholder meeting by financial regulators, and withdrawn from Amazon on a technicality.
Intel, Microsoft and IBM, however, have established some kind of link between pay and the achievement of diversity goals.
Privacy debate
Also Wednesday, Google executives expressed little interest in supporting or compromising on the pending ballot measure entitled the California Consumer Privacy Act after Consumer Watchdog raised the issue.
“Google executives must learn that it has to be part of crafting a legislative solution to online privacy problems or it is the problem,” said Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog in a statement Wednesday.
“Last year Google batted away our open hand on amending the Communications Decency Act and its defiance led to a signature on that law by President Trump. Google should reevaluate its intransigence on legislative privacy changes.”
Consumer Watchdog’s John M. Simpson, an Alphabet Inc. shareholder, asked for an explanation of Google’s opposition to the ballot initiative that, if passed in November, will give consumers more control over their personal information. He referenced the fact that Facebook and Verizon have pulled out of the coalition opposed to the measure.
“Since Google says it does not even sell data about you, why is the company opposing this privacy protecting ballot Initiative?” asked Simpson.
Kent Walker, Sr. Vice President and General Counsel of Alphabet Inc.’s Google, as he did at last year’s meeting, when answering a question about Congressional amendment to the Communications Decency Act, essentially defended the status quo.
“Google’s opposition makes no sense when Google claims they do not share or sell their users personal information. If this were truly the case, then Google would not have any reason to pour money into fighting an initiative that guarantees consumers basic privacy rights,” said Simpson.
Consumer Watchdog said the California Consumer Privacy Act is a reasonable approach to protecting privacy and in no way threatens legitimate Internet business models.
View a video of Simpson’s exchange with Alphabet and Google executives here: https://youtu.be/-t4IQtTdytU
Just last month, before Simpson had a chance to pose the question in person, Consumer Watchdog called upon Google, Verizon, Comcast and AT&T to follow Facebook’s lead and drop opposition to Privacy Ballot Initiative. [http://www.consumerwatchdog.
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