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A12 HEALTH
Monday 27 June 2022

After Roe, Dems seek probe of tech’s

use of personal data

states where abortion be-
comes illegal could soon
be able to obtain warrants
for location information
about anyone who has vis-
ited an abortion provider.
“Private actors will also be
incentivized by state boun-
ty laws to hunt down wom-
en who have obtained or
are seeking an abortion
by accessing location in-
formation through shady
data brokers,” the lawmak-
ers wrote.
They asked Khan for an in-
vestigation of Apple and
Google’s practices in mo-
bile phone users’ data
generally. They accused
the companies of engag-
Clinic escort Kim Gibson stands outside the Jackson Women's ing in “unfair and decep-
Health Organization clinic in Jackson, Miss., calling out to in- tive practices by enabling
coming patients that the clinic is still open, moments after the
U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade was issued, the collection and sale of
Friday, June 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) hundreds of millions of mo-
bile phone users’ personal
By MARCY GORDON tion of the two California- data.”
WASHINGTON (AP) — With based tech giants came The companies “knowing-
the Supreme Court end- Friday in a letter to Federal ly facilitated” the harmful
ing the constitutional pro- Trade Commission Chair practices by building loca-
tections for abortion, four Lina Khan. It was signed tion identifiers used for ad-
Democratic lawmakers are by Democratic Sens. Ron vertising into their mobile
asking federal regulators Wyden of Oregon, Eliza- phone operating systems,
to investigate Apple and beth Warren of Massachu- the lawmakers said.
Google for allegedly de- setts and Cory Booker of FTC spokesman Peter Ka-
ceiving millions of mobile New Jersey, and Rep. Sara plan confirmed that the
phone users by enabling Jacobs of California. It was agency had received the
the collection and sale of sent shortly before the Su- letter but said there would
their personal data to third preme Court announced be no comment on it.
parties. its decision overturning Apple and Google didn’t
The decision Friday by the the 1973 precedent and immediately respond to re-
court’s conservative major- noted that the court was quests for comment.
ity to overturn Roe v. Wade likely to do so. “Individu- The lawmakers’ letter not-
is expected to lead to als seeking abortions and ed that Apple and Google
abortion bans in about half other reproductive health- now allow consumers to
the states. Privacy experts care will become particu- opt out of the data track-
say that could make wom- larly vulnerable to privacy ing. However, it said that
en vulnerable because harms, including through until recently, Apple en-
their personal data could the collection and sharing abled the tracking identi-
be used to surveil pregnan- of their location data,” the fier by default and required
cies and shared with police lawmakers said in the letter. consumers to dig through
or sold to vigilantes. Online “Data brokers are already confusing phone settings
searches, period apps, fit- selling, licensing and shar- to turn it off. Google still
ness trackers and advice ing the location information enables it by default, and
helplines could become of people that visit abortion until recently did not even
rich data sources for such providers to anyone with a provide consumers with an
surveillance efforts. credit card.” opt-out, the letter said.
The request for an investiga- They said prosecutors in Last month, Wyden, War-
ren and Booker, along with
Sens. Edward Markey, D-
Mass., and Bernie Sanders,
I-Vt., urged the CEOs of
Google and Apple to pro-
hibit apps on the Google
Play Store and the Apple
App Store from using da-
ta-mining practices that
could facilitate the target-
ing of individuals seeking
abortion services.q