Google to delete abortion trip data following Roe v. Wade

Google location data policies overview: 

• Who: Google announced last week that it will be deleting the location data for any visits to abortion clinics or other health providers. 
• Why: The new policies are meant to increase data privacy protections for individuals seeking reproductive health care in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
• Where: The new policy will affect Google users nationwide. 

Google announced last Friday that it is enacting a new policy to delete users’ location data for visits to abortion clinics and other health providers in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. 

The policy comes amid calls by Democratic lawmakers for Google to delete location data related to reproductive health care visits so that prosecutors cannot use it against individuals in states where abortion may become illegal. 

Google announced the new policy in a blog post on June 1 which stated that protecting the privacy and securing the data of its users is “core to Google’s work.” 

“Privacy matters to people—especially around topics such as their health,” wrote Jen Fitzpatrick, Google’s senior vice president. 

Google says it has created tools which will allow its users to be able to choose to privatize their information, in addition to automatically deleting the location data of trips to medical facilities such as abortion clinics and fertility centers, among other places. 

Google says it will delete location history soon after visits to many medical facilities

“Today, we’re announcing that if our systems identify that someone has visited one of these places, we will delete these entries from location history soon after they visit,” Fitzpatrick wrote. “This change will take effect in the coming weeks.”

The location history for Google accounts is automatically off by default, according to Fitzpatrick, who said users who decide to turn it on are able to choose what data they want to have deleted.

Google said it has also introduced new features which will allow Google Fit and Fitbit users to be able to “easily access and control their personal data, including the option to change and delete personal information, at any time.” 

The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade has also caused period tracking app developers to take a closer look at their data privacy settings. 

Experts, meanwhile, say changing abortion laws will financially harm millions of Americans. 

Do you have your location data set to private on Google? Let us know in the comments! 

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