Personal data risks in the aftermath of the overturning of Roe vs. Wade

At the end of June 2022, the United States Supreme Court overturned its 1973 ruling in the case of Roe vs. Wade, thus concretely ending federal abortion rights. The decision caused a worldwide outrage, but now a concerning situation presents itself: the massive use of social media and the Internet by the population could result in serious personal privacy violations by the authorities. For example, tech giants such as Apple, Google and Meta Inc. could share users’ data if law enforcement authorities suspect a felony is being committed. This could especially be the case in those States who chose to make abortion illegal after the Supreme Court’s ruling. According to the United States’ Federal Rules of Civil Procedure no. 45, this kind of personal data could be made object of a subpoena, thus forcing the subject to produce them in court. In such a scenario tech companies would have no choice than to provide the consumer’s data. It is clear that this is a high risk for the consumer’s privacy.

In particular, location data could show if a person visited an abortion clinic. Many women use specific apps in order to track periods, fertility and an eventual pregnancy. All these data could be put under surveillance and seized by law enforcement in order to investigate and prosecute abortion – related cases.

In some States this already happened. In 2018 in Mississippi a woman was charged with second – degree murder after seeking health care for a pregnancy loss which happened at home. Prosecutors produced her Internet browser history as proof. After two years she was acquitted of the charges.

Another risk is posed by the so – called data brokers: these are companies that harvest data, cleanse or analyze it and sell them to the highest bidder. These companies could also be used by law enforcement agencies to arbitrarily investigate people who could be related to abortion cases.

The lack of legislation regarding personal data protection is a serious issue in the United States. For example, there is no principle of data minimization as found in the GDPR. The Supreme Courts’ ruling makes this historical moment unexplored territory from a legal point of view. Privacy advisors and activists recommend to try to limit the digital footprint users leave on the web. Also, new laws and bills could be introduce in order to limit the access law enforcement agencies have to personal data.