San Francisco: Google announced on Friday that it would remove users’ Location History When they visit abortion clinics, domestic violence shelters and other places where privacy is demanded.
Jane Fitzpatrick, a senior vice president at Google, wrote in a blog post, “If our systems detect that someone has visited one of these locations, we will remove these entries from the location history immediately upon their departure.” ” “This change will take effect in the coming weeks.”
Other places from which Google will not store location data include fertility centers, addiction treatment facilities, and weight loss clinics.
The announcement comes a week after the US Supreme Court’s tectonic decision to strip American women of their constitutional rights to abortion has led to a dozen states banning or severely restricting the procedure and widespread nationwide But protested.
Activists and politicians have been calling on Google and other tech giants to limit the amount of information they collect to avoid being used by law enforcement to investigate and prosecute abortion.
Fitzpatrick also sought to reassure users that the company takes data privacy seriously.
“Google has a long track record of pushing back overly broad demands from law enforcement, including outright objection to some demands,” she wrote.
“We take into account the privacy and security expectations of the people using our products, and we notify people when we comply with government demands.”
Concerns over smartphone data and reproductive rights arose even before a Supreme Court decision, when in recent months several conservative US states passed laws that give members of the public the right to prosecute doctors who perform abortions – or any which helps to facilitate them.
This led a group of top Democratic lawmakers to send a letter to the chief executive of Google in May Sundar Pichaitold her to stop collecting smartphone location data, lest it “become a tool for far-right extremists who want to crack down on people seeking reproductive health care.”
Jane Fitzpatrick, a senior vice president at Google, wrote in a blog post, “If our systems detect that someone has visited one of these locations, we will remove these entries from the location history immediately upon their departure.” ” “This change will take effect in the coming weeks.”
Other places from which Google will not store location data include fertility centers, addiction treatment facilities, and weight loss clinics.
The announcement comes a week after the US Supreme Court’s tectonic decision to strip American women of their constitutional rights to abortion has led to a dozen states banning or severely restricting the procedure and widespread nationwide But protested.
Activists and politicians have been calling on Google and other tech giants to limit the amount of information they collect to avoid being used by law enforcement to investigate and prosecute abortion.
Fitzpatrick also sought to reassure users that the company takes data privacy seriously.
“Google has a long track record of pushing back overly broad demands from law enforcement, including outright objection to some demands,” she wrote.
“We take into account the privacy and security expectations of the people using our products, and we notify people when we comply with government demands.”
Concerns over smartphone data and reproductive rights arose even before a Supreme Court decision, when in recent months several conservative US states passed laws that give members of the public the right to prosecute doctors who perform abortions – or any which helps to facilitate them.
This led a group of top Democratic lawmakers to send a letter to the chief executive of Google in May Sundar Pichaitold her to stop collecting smartphone location data, lest it “become a tool for far-right extremists who want to crack down on people seeking reproductive health care.”