Google will automatically purge information about users visiting abortion clinics or other sites that could trigger legal issues now that the U.S. Supreme Court has opened the door to states to ban abortion. The software that powers most smartphones in the world described the new privacy protections in a blog post on Friday.
In addition to automatically suppressing visits to abortion clinics, Google also cited counseling centers, fertility centers, addiction treatment facilities, weight loss clinics, and surgery clinics. aesthetics as well as other destinations that will be deleted from users’ location histories.
Google will automatically remove information from users who visit abortion clinics. (AP)
Users have always had the option to edit their location histories on their own, but Google will proactively do so for them as an additional level of protection.
“We are committed to providing strong privacy protections for people who use our products, and we will continue to look for new ways to strengthen and improve those protections,” Jen Fitzpatrick, Google’s senior vice president, wrote in the blog post.
The promise comes amid growing pressure on Google and other high-tech companies to do more to protect sensitive personal information funds through their digital services and products from government authorities and others.
An explosion of protests erupts in the United States following the ruling on abortion rights
This repeal could make abortion illegal in more than a dozen states, increasing the spectrum that records about people’s location, texts, searches, and emails could be used in lawsuits. against abortion procedures or even for medical care requested in a miscarriage.
Like other technology companies, Google receives thousands of government lawsuits from users’ digital records each year as part of misconduct investigations.
Google says it rejects search orders and other requests that are too broad or seem unfounded.