Google Will Automatically Delete Abortion Clinics From Location History
Google says(Opens in a new window) it will soon automatically delete abortion clinics from Location History to protect the privacy of its users following the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in June.
Location History(Opens in a new window) is an optional feature that saves the places a Google user with a smartphone visits to enable "personalized maps, recommendations based on places you’ve visited, help finding your phone, real-time traffic updates about your commute, and more useful ads."
Google says it will introduce this automated system—which it plans to apply to "counseling centers, domestic violence shelters, abortion clinics, fertility centers, addiction treatment facilities, weight loss clinics, cosmetic surgery clinics, and others"—in the coming weeks.
This is a welcome change, but it's not clear how much of a difference it will make for people worried about their privacy, especially in states where abortions have been made illegal. Location History represents a very small part of the information Google collects about its users.
The company also says it will update its Fitbit app to allow "users who have chosen to track their menstrual cycles in the app" to delete multiple logs at once instead of one at a time. Those logs could be used against people who menstruate as potential evidence of a pregnancy.
Google didn't immediately respond to a request for additional information about the possibility of non-Location History data revealing a user's visit to an abortion clinic, whether or not it plans to make the automatic removal of that data retroactive, and how it handles requests for Fitbit data.
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