Technology-related Privacy Concerns Surround US Abortion Ruling
2022-06-30
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1Major U.S. technology companies have expressed support for employees affected by the Supreme Court's recent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
2But some activists and lawmakers fear the business activities of those companies could result in legal action against people suspected of violating federal or state laws.
3Last week, the high court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.
4That ruling recognized a woman's constitutional right to have an abortion.
5An abortion is a medical procedure that ends a pregnancy.
6The Guttmacher Institute, an organization that supports abortion rights, says 26 American states are likely to ban abortion without Roe v. Wade.
7Some states, including Texas, Oklahoma and Idaho, have laws that permit private citizens to bring legal actions against anyone who assists a woman seeking an abortion.
8Technology companies - including Google, Apple, Meta, Amazon and Microsoft - reacted to the decision by offering benefits aimed at supporting their employees.
9All of these companies have announced they will cover costs for workers who need to travel to other areas to legally receive abortion services.
10But concerns have been raised that these technology companies might not protect private user data that could be used to identify and possibly prosecute people seeking ways to get an abortion.
11Clear examples from the past have demonstrated that whenever personal data is tracked or stored, there is always a risk that the information could be misused or abused.
12Privacy groups and some lawmakers have warned that different forms of personal data could be provided to law enforcement and used in legal cases linked to new state abortion laws.
13This could include location tracking data, text messages, emails and internet search histories collected by technology companies.
14Cynthia Conti-Cook is a technology specialist with the nonprofit Ford Foundation.
15She told Reuters news agency, "It is very likely that there's going to be requests made to those tech companies for information related to search histories and websites visited."
16Such data could also be used against individuals who assist the people seeking an abortion.
17And activist groups fear private data on users could also be bought by people who might be paid to go after people seeking or assisting with abortions.
18Alexandra Reeve Givens heads the Washington-based Center for Democracy and Technology, a nonprofit privacy group.
19She told The Associated Press she thinks the Supreme Court's ruling "opens the door" for law enforcement and other people and groups to seek massive amounts of private data from citizens.
20In a statement, Givens called on technology companies to take steps to safeguard such information.
21"In this new environment, tech companies must step up and play a crucial role in protecting women's digital privacy and access to online information," she said.
22Last week, four Democratic lawmakers accused Apple and Google of misleading millions of mobile phone users by permitting the collection and sale of their personal data to third parties.
23They called on federal agencies to investigate the matter.
24In their letter, the lawmakers said, "Individuals seeking abortions and other reproductive healthcare will become particularly vulnerable to privacy harms."
25The letter added that groups were already "selling, licensing and sharing the location information of people that visit abortion providers to anyone with a credit card."
26Apple and Google had no immediate comment on the letter.
27Other major technology companies have also not provided specific plans for how they plan to deal with official requests from governments or law enforcement agencies for private user data.
28In general, technology companies have suggested they will obey abortion-related data requests unless they see them as too wide ranging, the AP reports.
29Meta, for example, has pointed to its online transparency report.
30It states that the company fulfills government requests for user information "only where we have a good-faith belief that the law requires us to do so."
31Privacy rights activists say that kind of policy does not go far enough.
32They say technology companies need to work to strengthen and expand the use of privacy-protecting encryption to securely protect user data.
33Privacy groups have also called on companies to limit the collection, sharing and sale of information that can identify a woman's pregnancy situation.
34They have also urged the industry to stop using technology tools that aim to guess whether users are likely to be pregnant.
35I'm Dorothy Gundy.
36And I'm Bryan Lynn.
1Major U.S. technology companies have expressed support for employees affected by the Supreme Court's recent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. But some activists and lawmakers fear the business activities of those companies could result in legal action against people suspected of violating federal or state laws. 2Last week, the high court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. That ruling recognized a woman's constitutional right to have an abortion. An abortion is a medical procedure that ends a pregnancy. 3The Guttmacher Institute, an organization that supports abortion rights, says 26 American states are likely to ban abortion without Roe v. Wade. 4Some states, including Texas, Oklahoma and Idaho, have laws that permit private citizens to bring legal actions against anyone who assists a woman seeking an abortion. 5Technology companies - including Google, Apple, Meta, Amazon and Microsoft - reacted to the decision by offering benefits aimed at supporting their employees. All of these companies have announced they will cover costs for workers who need to travel to other areas to legally receive abortion services. 6Concerns over privacy 7But concerns have been raised that these technology companies might not protect private user data that could be used to identify and possibly prosecute people seeking ways to get an abortion. 8Clear examples from the past have demonstrated that whenever personal data is tracked or stored, there is always a risk that the information could be misused or abused. 9Privacy groups and some lawmakers have warned that different forms of personal data could be provided to law enforcement and used in legal cases linked to new state abortion laws. This could include location tracking data, text messages, emails and internet search histories collected by technology companies. 10Cynthia Conti-Cook is a technology specialist with the nonprofit Ford Foundation. She told Reuters news agency, "It is very likely that there's going to be requests made to those tech companies for information related to search histories and websites visited." 11Such data could also be used against individuals who assist the people seeking an abortion. And activist groups fear private data on users could also be bought by people who might be paid to go after people seeking or assisting with abortions. 12Alexandra Reeve Givens heads the Washington-based Center for Democracy and Technology, a nonprofit privacy group. She told The Associated Press she thinks the Supreme Court's ruling "opens the door" for law enforcement and other people and groups to seek massive amounts of private data from citizens. 13Calls for privacy safeguard 14In a statement, Givens called on technology companies to take steps to safeguard such information. "In this new environment, tech companies must step up and play a crucial role in protecting women's digital privacy and access to online information," she said. 15Last week, four Democratic lawmakers accused Apple and Google of misleading millions of mobile phone users by permitting the collection and sale of their personal data to third parties. They called on federal agencies to investigate the matter. 16In their letter, the lawmakers said, "Individuals seeking abortions and other reproductive healthcare will become particularly vulnerable to privacy harms." The letter added that groups were already "selling, licensing and sharing the location information of people that visit abortion providers to anyone with a credit card." 17Apple and Google had no immediate comment on the letter. Other major technology companies have also not provided specific plans for how they plan to deal with official requests from governments or law enforcement agencies for private user data. 18In general, technology companies have suggested they will obey abortion-related data requests unless they see them as too wide ranging, the AP reports. Meta, for example, has pointed to its online transparency report. It states that the company fulfills government requests for user information "only where we have a good-faith belief that the law requires us to do so." 19Privacy rights activists say that kind of policy does not go far enough. They say technology companies need to work to strengthen and expand the use of privacy-protecting encryption to securely protect user data. 20Privacy groups have also called on companies to limit the collection, sharing and sale of information that can identify a woman's pregnancy situation. They have also urged the industry to stop using technology tools that aim to guess whether users are likely to be pregnant. 21I'm Dorothy Gundy. 22And I'm Bryan Lynn. 23Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from The Associated Press and Reuters. 24We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. 25____________________________________________________________________ 26Words in This Story 27benefit - n. things that a company provide employees, such as health care and money to cover certain costs 28prosecute - v. to officially accuse someone of a crime in a court of law 29track - v. to record the progress of development of something 30location - n. a place or position 31crucial - adj. extremely important or necessary 32access - n. a way of getting at, near or to something 33vulnerable - adj. able to be hurt or at risk of being harmed 34license - v. to give someone official permission to do or have something 35transparent - adj. honest and open; not secretive 36encryption - n. the changing of information from one form to another, especially to hide its meaning