Big Tech Stays Silent on Data Privacy Risks in Post-Roe America
Major technology companies remain quiet about how they plan to protect user data following the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Experts warn that period-tracking apps, web searches, and location data pose severe surveillance risks to women seeking reproductive healthcare.
Period- and fertility-tracking apps quickly become potential weapons in post-Roe America as they hold highly sensitive data about sexual history, menstruation, and pregnancy dates. This information could now be used to prosecute women seeking abortions or fuel digital witch hunts in states that offer bounties for successfully suing anyone who helps a person access an abortion. Despite these severe risks, major technology companies remain completely silent on what steps they plan to take to protect users from this emerging digital surveillance.
While fertility applications represent a significant privacy concern due to their loose handling of sensitive health data, cybersecurity experts warn that they are only the tip of the iceberg. The Electronic Frontier Foundation emphasizes that the single greatest danger currently comes from the location data sale industry and the privacy of web searches. Individuals searching for abortion information or mapping out health clinics and pharmacies leave digital footprints that data brokers can easily exploit without user knowledge.
The broader location data industry operates on a massive scale, with millions of devices tracked across hundreds of mobile applications that range from weather services to retail shopping platforms. Although companies claim this GPS tracking exists primarily to serve targeted advertisements, it creates a multi-billion-dollar market where highly precise movements are bought and sold. As long as this data remains readily available for purchase, digital dragnets pose a continuous threat to anyone seeking or providing reproductive healthcare services.