Viant Technology
DSP
Information Technology
1
exclusion reason
1 theme
This page is part of our public exclusion list — a transparency tool that shows which companies we screen out and why. It is not investment advice, and it is not an accusation. But it is subject to change as our understanding of the facts evolves.
Viant Technology operates an advertising technology platform that uses artificial intelligence to plan, execute, and measure digital ad campaigns across channels. Its core business is built on tracking individuals across devices and platforms to serve targeted advertising, a form of mass behavioral surveillance deployed for commercial clients. The company’s platform privacy policy details the extensive data it processes, including device identifiers, browsing activity, and inferred characteristics, to build profiles for ad targeting.
While Viant’s services are marketed to advertisers, the underlying technology—AI-powered cross-device tracking, real-time bidding on user attention, and pervasive data collection—constitutes surveillance infrastructure sold to third parties. This aligns with the surveillance technology category, which includes software and systems built for deployment by other entities to monitor populations. Viant’s own materials reference leveraging endpoint management software to enforce security policies and remove forensic evidence, indicating capabilities relevant to system control and data obfuscation. The evidence gathered does not specify government contracts or sales of facial recognition systems, but the company’s foundational ad-tech model is inherently a large-scale commercial surveillance operation.
Research Sources
6 organizations
Related Exclusions
Wondering what we do invest in?
The Naughty List
A digest of changes to our exclusion list — new additions, removals, and the evidence behind them. We review the list continuously as new evidence surfaces.
Companies appear on our exclusion list based on our investment judgment — not because they've done anything illegal. This is a difference of values and opinion, not an accusation of wrongdoing. Exclusion does not constitute a recommendation against investing in any company, and absence from the list does not constitute a recommendation to invest.
This information is provided for educational and transparency purposes only and should not be relied upon as investment advice. Data is drawn from independent watchdogs, NGOs, government registries, and Ethical Capital's ongoing research — see Research Sources for the full list.
Ethical Capital LLC is a state-registered investment adviser in Utah (CRD #316032). Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training.