TechScape: Can US women trust big tech with their data after Roe v Wade?
On Friday, the US supreme court overturned Roe v Wade, the landmark 1973 decision which held that access to an abortion was a constitutionally guaranteed right. In 13 states with “trigger laws”, abortion was immediately – or will imminently be – outlawed. Others may follow.
As Americans grapple with the reality of the repeal, in one of just 11 countries around the world to have restricted access in the last three decades, the initial focus has been on how to continue to provide access to abortion – and how to guarantee the safety of women.
In the moments after the decision was handed down, calls to delete period tracking apps went viral, with users concerned that the data they collect may end up incriminating women; some companies took public stands, committing themselves to defending their users. “At this fraught moment, we hear the anger and the anxiety coming from our US community,” period tracking app Clue said. “We remain committed to protecting your reproductive health data.”
But the questions around personal data go far further than the narrow focus on reproductive health apps could suggest. From our story by Kari Paul:
Abortion and civil rights advocates have warned that there are few federal regulations on what information is collected and retained by tech firms, making it easy for law enforcement officials to access incriminating data on location, internet searches and communication history.
Such data has already been used to prosecute people for miscarriages and pregnancy termination in states with strict abortion laws, including one case in which a woman’s online search for abortion pills was brought against her in court.
Digital rights advocacy group the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has advised companies
Read more on theguardian.com
