The FTC has issued an faced warning to the businesses and data brokers who have access to users’ location and health information.
Technology companies are in the spotlight following the Roe v. Wade decision. Officials and those seeking abortions are concerned about the potential misuse of the large amounts of data that digital companies have access to, including health and location. The FTC is now taking action to combat data exploitation.
FTC PROTECTS LOCATION AND HEALTH INFORMATION OF ABORTION SEEKERS IN POST-ROE The FTC announcement states that the agency is committed to protecting consumer privacy by exercising all of its lawful options. It issues a warning that users may be put in danger by period and fertility applications. Similar to this, any other software that gathers user location and health information could be dangerous.
Advertisement The Biden Administration instructed the FTC to take the appropriate steps to protect the data of abortion seekers starting of July 8th. Privacy experts, however, assert that the authorities can use location tracking to identify those who are entering abortion facilities. Naturally, this will take place in states where abortion is prohibited.
The Commission is committed to protecting consumer privacy by exercising all of its lawful options. If we find criminal activity that makes use of Americans’ location, health, or other private information, we will pursue the law strictly. According to Kristin Cohen, the FTC’s acting associate director in the Division of Privacy and Identity Protection, previous enforcement actions by the agency offer a road map for businesses looking to comply with the law.
Following this, Google recently declared it would delete the location records of users who visit abortion clinics and other medical facilities as soon as possible.
Advertisement Authorities still have a variety of additional methods, meanwhile, for identifying those who go to abortion facilities. Using search histories, GPS map apps, period monitoring apps, fitness trackers, and fitness monitors are some popular ways to detect abortion seekers.
Some period-tracking applications also have a terrible reputation for disclosing user information to outside parties. A few years ago, the well-known period-tracking app Flo received criticism for disclosing users’ personal information to unrelated companies.
