Increasing concerns about the future of shareholder involvement in annual general meetings (AGMs) for fossil fuel companies may signal a potential 'dark age' ahead.

Increasing concerns about the future of shareholder involvement in annual general meetings (AGMs) for fossil fuel companies may signal a potential 'dark age' ahead.

In recent years, annual general meetings (AGMs) of major London-listed fossil fuel companies have seen an increase in surveillance measures, raising concerns about privacy and shareholder rights.

At the 2024 Shell AGM and the 2025 AGM of British Petroleum (BP), personal security guards were assigned to shareholders. This trend continued at BP's 2025 AGM, where a one-hour cap was imposed on questions, an unprecedented decision in the writer's experience.

Dame Amanda Blanc, a climate-aware director at BP, evaded questions about climate change during the 2025 BP AGM. The main auditorium was reportedly at capacity, leaving many attendees excluded from meaningful participation in the meeting.

Shareholders were required to bundle their questions at the 2025 BP AGM, while those physically in the room were permitted a conversational format. A shareholder was subjected to a personal search, including a body check and examination of their suitcase, and their Sharpie markers were confiscated as contraband.

Limited questions touching on climate strategy and governance were addressed at the 2025 BP AGM. However, there is no publicly available specific information about the deployment or accuracy of facial recognition technology or surveillance data usage at these AGMs.

The use of facial recognition technology and surveillance at AGMs is a growing concern, particularly in light of the Future Identity Festival 2025 in London, which highlighted the industry's focus on digital identity, authentication, and data protection technologies.

In the UK, the use of facial recognition and other biometric data is regulated under the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). These laws mandate strict requirements for transparency, lawful basis for processing, data minimization, security, and retention limits. For shareholder meetings, this implies that shareholders should be informed if biometric technologies are used for entry or attendance monitoring, and data collected must be processed fairly, stored securely, and not retained longer than necessary.

However, companies listed on the London Stock Exchange typically do not detail the use of biometric surveillance technologies at AGMs in their governance documents. This lack of transparency has led to questions about who holds the biometric and behavioral data collected at AGMs, for how long it is retained, under what legal basis it is shared between clients, if it is inaccurate, how one corrects the record, if it is sold or shared with third parties, including foreign governments or border agencies.

It is observed that Shell and BP may use the same corporate security provider for their AGMs, and that this provider uses facial recognition and other surveillance technologies. Assurances given at the 2025 BP AGM that shareholder rights would be equivalent to those in the room were not upheld, with spontaneous questions being disallowed.

More questions at the 2025 BP AGM were dedicated to pension complaints. Security personnel at the 2025 BP AGM were not BP employees but claimed to be there as representatives of the company. At the 2024 Shell AGM, a colleague was stopped and refused entry for carrying a single-page leaflet, which was considered contraband material.

Attending the annual general meetings of major London-listed fossil fuel companies in the mid-2020s involves exclusion lists driven by facial recognition technology, opaque security contractors, invasive physical searches, out-of-the-way locations, and guards who follow shareholders to the toilet.

As the use of surveillance technologies at AGMs becomes more prevalent, it is crucial for companies to comply with data protection laws and ensure transparency in their practices. More detailed, company-specific disclosures or regulatory investigations would be needed to assess actual implementations and accuracy at AGMs.

1. The increasing use of surveillance measures at AGMs of major London-listed fossil fuel companies, such as the confiscation of Sharpie markers and body checks, has raised concerns about privacy and shareholder rights.
2. Dame Amanda Blanc, a climate-aware director at BP, avoided questions about climate change during the 2025 BP AGM, despite limited questions touching on climate strategy and governance being addressed.
3. The use of facial recognition technology and surveillance at AGMs is a growing concern, particularly when it comes to transparency, data protection, and the retention of biometric data in accordance with the UK's Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR.
4. Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange typically do not detail the use of biometric surveillance technologies at AGMs in their governance documents, leading to questions about who holds the collected data, for how long it is retained, and whether it is shared with third parties.
5. It is observed that Shell and BP may use the same corporate security provider for their AGMs, where the provider uses facial recognition and other surveillance technologies, potentially excluding shareholders and infringing on their rights to free speech and assembly.
6. Attending AGMs of major London-listed fossil fuel companies in the mid-2020s appears to involve invasive security measures, such as exclusion lists driven by facial recognition technology, opaque security contractors, and physical searches, creating a challenging environment for meaningful shareholder participation and transparency.

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