Thomson Reuters (TRI) has faced controversy surrounding the use of its technology products, including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency’s use of CLEAR®. CLEAR® enables background checks by consolidating millions of personal records across multiple databases. Previous controversies involved ICE’s use of CLEAR® to track and arrest immigrants, and family separation and detention, which is considered illegal under international law.

In December 2021, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden stated that the data-broker industry has spun out of control, as data on private citizens was “ending up in the hands of law enforcement without approval or oversight.”1 The U.S. National Consumer Telecom & Utilities Exchange ended the sale of private utility data to commercial data brokers such as TRI, which incorporated such data into CLEAR®.

TRI has at least three active contracts with ICE, including one providing license plate readers to ICE through 2026.2 Such license plate readers have been found to facilitate data sharing between local police departments and ICE seemingly without regard for state laws.3 Two other contracts leave questions about the technology products provided to ICE by TRI and the role they play in facilitating ICE’s actions.45

In August 2021 a U.S. federal court ruled that a lawsuit against TRI alleging that CLEAR® violates privacy laws could proceed.6

Mitigating Human Rights Risk

BCGEU’s recent shareholder proposals at TRI have questioned its human rights risk mitigation practices and identified the company’s shift from a media to a technology company.

In response to BCGEU’s 2020 proposal, TRI pointed to its Trust Principles as underpinning its business decisions and commercial principles. In 2021 TRI stated that (i) it was actively reviewing best practices for mitigating human rights risks, (ii) there is no uniform approach to ESG matters, and (iii) that it has gained insight about human rights through its corporate charity. Notably, TRl’s 2021 response to questions about its human rights risks practices made no mention of its Trust Principles.

In recommending that shareholders vote in favor of BCGEU’s 2021 proposal, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) noted that the Trust Principles may be outdated and no longer applicable to the company in its current form as a technology company. ISS stated that the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) are the most widely accepted set of governing principles on human rights risks, and that it appears TRl’s strategy should be informed by the UNGPS.

TRI continues to state that its approach to ESG matters is guided by the Trust Principles and that such principles are fundamental to its entire business.

RESOLVED: Shareholders request the Board

1. (i)  conduct a review of

   1. (A)  the appropriateness of the Trust Principles as a means to identify and mitigate human rights risk, and

   2. (B)  whether an alternate set of governing principles on human rights risks, such as the UNGPs, would be more appropriate for TRI, and

2. (ii)  publish the results of such review in its Annual Report for 2022.

1 https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/12/08/utility-data-gover…

2 https://www.usaspending.gov/award/CONT_AWD_70CMSD21C00000002_7012_-NONE…- 3 https://www.wired.com/story/ice-license-plate-surveillance-vigilant-sol…

4 https://www.usaspending.gov/award/CONT_AWD_70CMSD18P00000145_7012_-NONE…- 5 https://www.usaspending.gov/award/CONT_AWD_70CDCR18P00000048_7012_-NONE…- 6 https://www.courthousenews.com/judge-advances-privacy-claims-over-reute…