SAN FRANCISCO – Google said on Friday it would remove visits to abortion clinics from the location history of its users, in the company’s first attempt to address how it will handle sensitive data in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling Roe v. Wade.
The change in location data will take place in the coming weeks, Jen Fitzpatrick, a senior vice president of Google, wrote in a blog post. The policy will also apply to trips to fertility clinics, shelters for domestic violence, addiction treatment facilities and other sensitive places.
Google, which possesses heaps of intimate information about its billions of users, has been scrutinized since the Supreme Court’s decision last week to Roe v. Wade, to eliminate the constitutional right to an abortion after nearly 50 years. Some proponents of reproductive rights have urged people to delete applications that track their menstrual cycles online, while experts have said that search and location data from companies like Google are more likely to be used as evidence.
The Roe overthrow has broader renewed questions about how much data and digital routes humans have produced, which can be used to investigate, target or target those trying to get an abortion. In states that allow prohibitions or other restrictions on abortion, law enforcement is expected to be focused on taking action against medical providers, but information about individuals – including location data, payment data and more – is not difficult to obtain through data brokers and other sources. not. .
The Alphabet Workers Union, a group representing more than 800 people working for Google’s parent company, Alphabet, on Tuesday sued the search giant for deleting any personal data that law enforcement could try to prosecute those who get abortions.
With Friday’s announcement, while Google will delete some location data, it did not commit to automatically deleting search records on abortions, which can also be searched. Users must choose individually to clear their search history.
Google has been sued by the state of Texas, which is accused of still monitoring users even when using Chrome browsers’ supposed private Incognito mode – which could further erode confidence that the company will clear all data when people try privately page.
Google has also made no commitment to change the way it handles government data requests.
“We remain committed to protecting our users from improper government claims for data, and we will continue to oppose claims that are too broad or otherwise legally objectionable,” she said. Fitzpatrick wrote.
The company also said that users will soon be able to delete multiple menstrual logs stored on Fitbit, a health-tracking company owned by Google, faster rather than one at a time. The company also reminded users to use existing setting options on Google to enhance their online privacy.