When law enforcement authorities demand personal data belonging to those suspected of getting an abortion, tech firms will likely hand it over.
Why it matters: Companies like Google and Facebook collect enormous volumes of personal data, including information about where we've been, what we've bought, who we've talked to and what we've said. States that have made abortion a crime are making anyone who miscarries a potential target for a police data demand.
The big picture: The companies aren't directly answering questions about how they will respond to such inquiries now that the U.S. Supreme Court is letting states outlaw abortion.
Yes, but: The firms' privacy policies and past conduct answer the question clearly: They may contest what they view as overly broad data requests, but generally they will cooperate with criminal investigations.
What's at stake: Period-tracking apps have drawn attention, for obvious reasons, but the potentially relevant data is far wider — everything from Amazon purchase data to Google search queries, and location data from cell carriers to messaging data from e-mail and chat providers.
How it works: Law enforcement already seeks access to location data, content, usernames, browser history and other online activity from tech companies through warrants or subpoenas.
Driving the news: The Big Tech platforms haven't rushed to clarify how they will handle legal requests related to abortion prosecutions since the Dobbs decision on Friday. They were similarly silent when Axios posed the question after a draft ruling leaked in May.
Between the lines: There are a couple of reasons that companies are unlikely to confirm their plans and procedures.
The intrigue: Law enforcement does not necessarily need a warrant to obtain some online information because it is sold by data brokers.
Our thought bubble: The post-Roe world will drive every tech company to review the volume of data they are collecting and ask whether they need it, how it could be harmful, and how long they want to hold it.
Another twist: Without clear standards for personal control of data, many people will simply delete period-tracking apps or think twice about seeking out health information online — at the moment that the change in laws makes access to reliable personal health data more urgent than ever.
What's next: Activists are encouraging tech companies to take a fresh look at products they have in development to imagine the types of data they might generate and how that data could be used against a customer's interest by an intrusive government.
