After weeks of silence on the subject, Google announced on Friday that users’ location data will be automatically deleted when they visit a specialist abortion clinic. “If our systems detect that a person has visited the facility (sensitive)We will delete these location history entries immediately after you visit them.”California group vice president Jen Fitzpatrick said in a press release.
This decision came a week after the United States Supreme Court struck down the federal right to voluntary termination of pregnancy (abortion). Elected Democrats and rights groups fear that the personal information of women who have abortions or individuals who can help them will be used against them by prosecutors in conservative states that have banned abortion. They have therefore been calling for weeks to stop storing so much personal data on major tech platforms, from online abortion research to travel with apps like Google Maps. But Google, Meta (Facebook, Instagram) and Apple have been very quiet so far.
The requests of the authorities were “rejected”.
Jen Fitzpatrick reminds that location history is turned off by default, and users can control what is saved or not. As for the authorities’ requests, he also assures that Google is used to it “Up when they’re too wide”. “We consider the privacy and security expectations of people who use our products and notify them when we comply with government requests unless lives are at risk.”, he adds. Among the sensitive facilities affected by Friday’s ruling, Google includes domestic violence shelters, clinics that specialize in weight loss and detoxification centers.
Some laws passed even before the Supreme Court’s ruling, such as one in Texas in September, encourage ordinary citizens to sue women suspected of having abortions or those who help them, such as an Uber driver who allegedly took them to a clinic. Google’s technologies are therefore at risk of becoming “tools for extremists who want to oppress people seeking reproductive health care”– wrote 42 American elected officials in an open letter addressed to Google head Sundar Pichai at the end of May. “Because Google stores the geolocation information of hundreds of millions of smartphone users, which it routinely shares with government agencies.”they elaborated.
Source: Le Figaro
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.