Google not to preserve users’ location on US abortion clinic visits

When users visit domestic abuse shelters, abortion clinics, or other locations where privacy is desired, Google said that it would wipe the users’ location history.

The declaration comes a week after the United States Supreme Court announced the historic decision to deny American women their constitutional right to an abortion, which sparked widespread protests across the nation and forced a dozen states to outlaw or severely restrict the operation.

Senior Vice President at Google, Mr. Jen Fitzpatrick, wrote in a blog post, “We will remove these entries from Location History as quickly as possible after someone visits one of these locations if our systems detect that they have. In the upcoming weeks, this modification will go into effect.”

Other locations from which Google will not keep location data include weight reduction clinics, fertility clinics, and facilities for the treatment of addictions.

Users can rest assured that the company takes data privacy seriously since, according to Fitzpatrick, “We take into account the privacy and security expectations of people using our products, and we notify people when we comply with government demands.”

Even before the Supreme Court decision, concerns about smartphone data and reproductive rights were raised when a number of conservative US states approved legislation in recent months granting citizens the ability to sue doctors who perform abortions or anybody who aids in their facilitation.

Due to this, a number of prominent Democratic politicians wrote Google CEO Mr. Sundar Pichai requesting that he stop collecting smartphone location data in order to prevent it from being used as “a tool for far-right extremists looking to crack down on people seeking reproductive health care.”

Source: The New Age