In an email statement, a spokesperson for Mastercard said the company only uses “anonymized transaction data” to gather data at the postal code level. As shown in the image above, though, AlikeAudience claims it can create links between such anonymized IDs and users who “voluntarily” give up their data.
As Sherman pointed out, any person seeking reproductive care in the U.S. right now is leaving behind a “massive digital footprint” that they might not always be considering. In the past, for example, we’ve seenused to prosecute her in her stillborn baby’s death. Even if someone deletes one of those pesky period tracking apps, Sherman went on, there’s still websites potential parents might visit—or posts they’ll make on social media—that might give them away anyway.
Meanwhile, every cellphone company lurks in the background hoping no one notices them.