You can also completely disable Google’s location tracking by following its instructions here. Google’s post, titled “Protecting people’s health privacy,” also says there’s an update for Fitbit that will let you delete multiple menstrual logs at once if you’re using the health tracker. These privacy updates are intended to remove selected data from Google’s servers that could be used to prosecute care-seekers, but the company still stores a lot of other data about your activities. Search and YouTube histories could also be used as evidence in investigations, and Google’s post says nothing about that. We’ve contacted Google to ask about any other measures it may take to protect user data. While Google is legally required to comply with certain government requests for data (and could be forced to hand over logs if they exist), the company reiterates that it “will continue to oppose requests that are overly broad or otherwise legally unacceptable.” Google also says it will notify users when it gives their data to the government, unless ordered not to or there is an urgent security concern. Abortion data privacy concerns go beyond Google: official medical records aren’t as private as many of us assume, and everything from text messages to shopping records could be used against you in court. Additionally, the company isn’t necessarily the only entity tracking where your smartphone has been. For more information, you can read our article that goes into depth about the privacy risks that care-seekers may face right now.
