US Senators want Google and Apple to protect people seeking abortions.
Progressive lawmakers sitting the Senate representing states such as Massachusetts, Oregon, Vermont and New Jersey have issued pleas to the CEOs of Google’s parent company Alphabet and Apple to limit the amount of data collected apps on their platforms are allowed to harvest in light of the crackdown of women’s reproductive health across the United States.
In a letter to Google’s Sundar Pichai and Apple’s Tim Cook, they wrote: "Following the leak of the Supreme Court’s draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, we are concerned that anti-abortion prosecutors and other actors will attempt to access and leverage personal information—including data regarding location, online activity, health, and biometrics—in ways that threaten the wellbeing of those exercising their right to choose."
The letter - which was authored by Massachusetts senators’ Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren, Vermont’s Bernie Sanders and New Jersey’s Corey Booker - continued about the importance of preventing “vigilanties” stopping people seeking healthcare.
They warn that "should the Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade, anti-abortion prosecutors and even vigilantes may be able to exploit online mining of data from apps" on from their services "to stop individuals from accessing abortion services or to target them retrospectively."
These measures could prove vital for women wanting to terminate their pregnancy as previously it has been reported that online brokers have been selling data of people visiting abortion clinic, which is used to establish things such as “heat maps” of people who use period tracking apps.
The letter also states: "Information about app users’ fertility, browsing history indicating an interest in contraception, or location information showing that a user visited a gynecologist could become a data trove for actors who are intent on targeting, intimidating, and harming individuals who seek abortions or individuals who simply take steps to promote their reproductive health.”
