Google Says It Will Delete Location Data When Users Visit Abortion Clinics

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Source: New York Times

SAN FRANCISCO — Google said on Friday that it would delete abortion clinic visits from the location history of its users, in the company’s first effort to address how it will handle sensitive data in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.

The location data change will take place in the coming weeks, Jen Fitzpatrick, a Google senior vice president, wrote in a blog post. The policy will also apply to trips to fertility clinics, domestic violence shelters, addiction treatment facilities and other sensitive locations.

Google, which holds reams of intimate information about its billions of users, has come under scrutiny since the Supreme Court’s decision last week to strike down Roe v. Wade, eliminating the constitutional right to an abortion after almost 50 years. Some supporters of reproductive rights have pushed people to delete apps that track their menstrual cycles online, while experts said search and location data from companies like Google are more likely to be used as evidence.

The overturning of Roe has more broadly renewed questions about how much data and digital trails people have produced, which could be used to surveil or target those who try and get an abortion. In states that allow bans or other limits on abortion, law enforcement is expected to be focused on taking action against medical providers, but information about individuals — including location data, payments data and more — is not hard to obtain through data brokers and other sources.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/google-says-it-will-delete-location-data-when-users-visit-abortion-clinics/ar-AAZ5MTH

[bucolic_frolic]

1. Liability issues I would suspect

[iluvtennis]

2. Some good news. Now we need Apple and Microsoft to follow suit. n/t

[CloudWatcher]

3. Apple?

Apple has location data that you can share with people (it's under your control), and apps that can ask for location data (again, you can control/deny it). But I've not heard anything about Apple collecting and saving location data. Unlike Google that loves to collect as much info on you as it is allowed.

Of course it could be that I've just not heard about it. But at least there's some public record of Apple going to bat to not comply with privacy violations by government bodies.

Microsoft? I've no clue, I don't use their stuff.

But yes, public statements from the big (and small) tech companies about how they are going to protect your privacy is more than appropriate ... asap.

[iluvtennis]

5. I'm an Apple user - iphone and Macbook. The Apple's Safari browser and Apple's iCloud service

have LOTS of tracking data. Yes, you can turn off location based services and tracking, but most people don't as they need it for map data, finding restaurants/etc, track your route while running/jogging, etc, etc.

Here is link to just one article on the subject - hundreds of articles out there.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/19/your-apple-iphone-tracks-where-you-go-heres-how-to-see-what-it-knows.html

[thenelm1]

6. Your choice? So they say. FB says it too and yet they've been caught numerous times selling or...

distributing personal data anyway, in spite of whatever security choices you may have made.

[iluvtennis]

7. Exactly. n/t

[thenelm1]

4. And why, pray tell, are they allowed to collect this sort of personal information in the...

first place? That they're eliminating said data is a definitely a good thing, but this type of datamining, for lack of a better description, is really getting out of hand. And my guess would be that most people aren't even aware that it's happening.

[Shermanator]

16. Because people allow them to collect it

Google is a data company. They have a ton of information from billions of users. Google uses the information for advertisement, their map services and search.

[Marthe48]

8. 2 ideas

Shut off the phone. Give it to a trusted loved one to carry aroudn while you go 'camping' Get a burner phone, and before you leave the campground fill up a sink with water and submerge the phone.

And for all of us who want to do supportive things, go to clinic locations and use our phones freely. Google clinic locations. Move back and forth across state lines. It'll add to data that isn't deleted, and possibly snarl spying activities. Do whatever it takes to let the oppessors know we don't accept them and aren't going peacefully. F**k the 6 despots.

[Hekate]

9. Prove it, Google. Meanwhile, fellow humans, consult Electronic Frontier Foundation ...

… for comprehensive info on how to protect yourself for real.

https://www.eff.org/

[Joinfortmill]

10. Good

[MichMan]

11. Google is one of the corporations providing free airfare and hotels to people traveling for abortion

I assume this policy means that no one being provided this benefit will be required to show that was the purpose of the trip.

[ArizonaLib]

12. What about the terrorists who go to clinics to cause harm?

Shouldn't Google merely mask the 'visit to the clinic' data? I don't think they were really going to delete it in the first place.

Also, what about doctors who provide service capable of being shot in the head while attending church services for example?

[wackadoo wabbit]

13. I wish I could believe this

But, to paraphrase Mary McCarthy: Everything that Google says regarding tracking is a lie, including "and" and "the."

[SharonAnn]

23. I don't believe them.

[Lithos]

14. Err - it is a bit more complicated and I hope people do not think this is all there is.

This is an uphill battle.

There are many companies out there which do this type of "privacy" sensitive location services - not just Google, Apple, M$ and Facebook.

First and foremost are the cell companies - they know fairly closely where you are at from the signal strength of your phones relative to their towers. There is a surveillance technology called "Stingray" where law enforcement (or any agency) can pretend to be a cell tower and do the same. (Ie, they can park just down the street)

Also, any application for which "location" has been granted can and will report your data back. Pokemon Go, Lyft, Uber, etc. all will constantly report back if you're not careful. Many games which have build in ads also have this so they can customize the ads being served and to do so they incorporate libraries from companies who then aggregate this information (and thus know where you've been).

And if you leave on your "wifi" - any half-way decent adjacent wifi mesh can also be used to identify your location.

If you want true privacy in a clinic, you have to turn off your phone well in advance and put it into an EMF bag to make sure nothing can communicate out.

On Edit: Also Bluetooth can out you - so even peripherals such as headsets and earbuds that use it must be in the "bag".

And if you are even more paranoid - remember your credit card and other digital items can leave an exhaust trail (ex - if you pay for something at the clinic).

[Lancero]

15. Maybe they could stop donating to Republicans while they're at it?

https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/google-inc/C00428623/summary/2022

"We support womens rights!" Lied the company that gives hundreds of thousands of dollars to anti-women Republicans every election./

[FakeNoose]

17. Doesn't Google's Chrome browser do the same thing?

I mean, the Incognito window allows "private browsing" without being tracked and without tracking cookies. How is Google's announcement different from using the Incognito window? It sounds like Google is saying that location data is archived separately from the so-called tracking cookies.

Asking for a friend ...

[LeftInTX]

19. On my phone?

Phone always knows where I am. It uses both cell and satellite GPS

[FakeNoose]

20. I don't know about your phone

... on mine I can turn off the location finder whenever I want to.

I don't use my cellphone for browsing the internet, so I really don't know how intrusive Google is on phones.

[samnsara]

18. everyone needs to at least go to the site of a clinic so theres data and all need to download the

..period app..they cant arrest ALL of us!

[bucolic_frolic]

21. Shouldn't collect it in the first place

[Hassler]

22. What about when someone types "abortion" in the search window?

[NH Ethylene]

24. Maybe we should all type abortion in our search window on a regular basis. n/t

[LiberalFighter]

25. Could they make it look like everyone went to an abortion clinic?

Including for men, elderly, foreigners, etc.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

26. How about if a few million progressive ladies paid a casual visit to those clinics...

around once a month?

Let those who subpoena the records sort it out.

Even better yet, perhaps those ladies truly seeking help should just leave their electronics at the house.....

[intrepidity]

27. So, let's see...

First, they need to build, then refine and perfect, the algorithms to convert raw GPS data into real-world functional locations. Granted, this is mostly already baked-into our current world. But they will certainly have to refine and focus it.

Then, they will have to compile and organize the data, because how else will they know which data to discard?

IOW, Google will do *all* of the footwork building the infrastructure--with the public's blessing, presumably--to effectively collect dossiers on people who visit certain locations.

And--for the moment anyway--they will delete or trash or vaporize the data. But what about tomorrow, or the next day? When someone with different ethics has control?

I don't know the answer.