Big Tech Surveillance Puts Abortion Seekers at Risk of Criminal Prosecution
Tech companies are tracking and storing highly sensitive location data that prosecutors could use to criminalize people seeking abortions in restricted states. Advocates warn that the surveillance advertising business model directly endangers reproductive rights.
Big Tech companies like Google, Facebook, and Apple build their multi-billion dollar empires by constantly tracking and monetizing user data. This surveillance advertising business model collects intimate details about what people buy, read, and where they travel, creating a massive stockpile of personal information that extends far beyond basic app functionality.
This extensive data collection creates severe dangers for people seeking abortions in states where the procedure is heavily restricted or criminalized. If a person living in a state like Idaho uses Google Maps to search for and travel to an out-of-state abortion provider, their search queries, exact routes, and time spent at destinations are logged and saved by the tech giant.
Prosecutors now have access to a powerful digital ally that did not exist in the decades prior to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Because gathering and selling user data remains a fundamental part of the tech industry's profit strategy, these corporations actively put abortion seekers at direct risk of investigation, persecution, and jail time.