Google has announced that location data, which you can opt out from, will be deleted automatically when you visit an abortion clinic after weeks of silence.
Jen Fitzpatrick (Vice President of the California group), stated in a statement that “if our systems identify that someone has visited a sensitive establishment, we will delete those entries shortly after their visit.”
This decision comes just a week after the Supreme Court of the United States reversed the federal right of voluntary termination of pregnancy (abortion).
Human rights groups and elected Democrats fear that prosecutors in conservative countries that ban abortion will use personal information about women who have had an abortion or those who helped them to make a case against them.
These individuals have been asking for weeks that major technology platforms stop storing so much personal information, from online research about abortion to travel on apps like Google Maps.
Google, Meta (Facebook and Instagram), and Apple are still very quiet.
Google’s Friday decision affects sensitive institutions such as shelters for domestic violence and clinics that specialize in weight loss.
Some laws, passed before the Supreme Court ruling in Texas, encourage ordinary citizens who suspect women of having abortions to sue those who helped them, including an Uber driver who may have taken them to the clinic.
In an open letter addressed to Google Sundar Pichai at the end May, 42 American elected officials warned that Google’s technology could become “tools for extremists who wish to suppress people seeking reproductive healthcare care”. .
They explained that Google kept information about the geographical location of hundreds and millions of smartphone users. This data was shared with government agencies frequently.
