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On Friday, Google announced that it will delete users’ location data when they visit abortion clinics, domestic abuse refuges, and other places where privacy is desired. “If our systems detect that someone has visited one of these locations, we will delete these submissions from Location History shortly after their visit,” Jen Fitzpatrick, a Google senior vice president, wrote in a blog post. “This change will be implemented in the coming weeks.”
Google will not store location information from fertility clinics, addiction treatment facilities, or weight loss clinics.
The announcement comes just a week after the US Supreme Court decided to deprive American women of their constitutional right to abortion, prompting a dozen states to outlaw or severely restrict the procedure and sparking nationwide protests.
Activists and politicians have urged Google and other tech behemoths to limit the amount of data they collect in order to prevent it from being used by law enforcement in abortion investigations and prosecutions.
Fitzpatrick also attempted to confirm users that the company values data privacy.
“Google has a long history of rejecting overly broad law enforcement requirements, including completely opposing certain demands,” she wrote.
“We take into account the privacy and security concerns of our customers and notify them when we meet government requirements.”
Concerns about smartphone data and reproductive choice arose even before the Supreme Court decision, when several conservative US states passed laws in recent months that allow members of the public to sue doctors who perform abortions – or anyone who assists in their facilitation.
This prompted a group of top Democratic lawmakers to write to Google CEO Sundar Pichai in May, pleading with him to stop collecting smartphone location data lest it become “a tool for far-right extremists looking to stop the people seeking reproductive care.”
