Tech companies in spotlight as US abortion ruling sparks privacy threat

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Google signals policy change on location history, that log of movements to be deleted

Google did not say the policy change was in response to the supreme court's decision to reverse Roe v Wade. File photograph: Getty ImagesFollowing the US supreme court’s decision to end women’s constitutional right to abortion, some tech firms are moving to close loopholes that allow personal data brokers to monitor and sell information amid fears that mobile apps could be used by US states to police abortion restrictions.

“If our systems identify that someone has visited one of these places, we will delete these entries from Location History soon after they visit.” Caitlin Chin, a fellow with the Strategic Technologies Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC, said there was an implicit challenge to privacy in the overturning of Roe, highlighted by the absence of comprehensive federal data privacy law in the US.

On Saturday Ms Chin said it is not just period or fitness apps that could be targeted by law enforcement. Many popular devices and mobile apps collect personal information, including geolocation, browsing activity, search history, private communications, social media posts, photographs, videos, and financial transactions, which are then used by developers, data aggregators, advertisers, and other third parties.

From January to June 2021, Google received more than 149,000 requests, of which about 78 per cent were fulfilled, according to its transparency report. After the Roe decision, the Electronic Frontier Foundation said: “Service providers can expect a raft of subpoenas and warrants seeking user data that could be employed to prosecute abortion seekers, providers, and helpers.

 

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