As Roe vs Wade stands overturned, many American women have protested the US Supreme Court ruling, demanding their right to abortion. Now, concerns that their data from period-tracking apps could be accessed by the law enforcement are forcing many to have to delete such apps.
Women have been taking to Twitter to share that they would be deleting such apps. Experts say that these apprehensions are legitimate.
reminder to delete your period tracking apps right now, like NOW
— kat ♡︎ mullet era (@THClbs) June 24, 2022
As per a report in NPR, privacy experts have expressed similar concerns. Not just period tracking apps, but any app gathering sensitive information should be given “additional level of scrutiny”, an expert told NPR.
Also let it be clear the whole “delete certain apps that track your period” thing is no exaggeration nor is it hypothetical that period tracking can be used against people. Literally a tactic that was adopted during policing of Black welfare receiving mothers
— 🔆 🔆 🔆 (@BlackFemmeinism) June 25, 2022
Also read: US Supreme Court overturns Roe v Wade; states can ban abortion
Fears not unfounded
As per a Business Insider report, data collected by period tracking apps being shared with law enforcement is unlikely but not impossible, as per a tech policy researcher.
Seeing more calls today to delete your period-tracking apps. But experts say that if you look at how states have already brought evidence in abortion-related cases, the *much* bigger concern is unsecured, unencrypted communications & stored search history. https://t.co/aCrsDukNoG pic.twitter.com/3qtutkD5vg
— Kevin Collier (@kevincollier) June 24, 2022
According to the expert, those who find such apps genuinely useful should not feel compelled to delete them now. Some such apps have responded to these anxieties. For example, Flo has said that it does not share user data with any third party.
Seven states ban procedure
Some states had put in place so-called “trigger” laws to come into force virtually automatically after the decision was handed down. As of Friday evening, at least seven states had banned the procedure: Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, and South Dakota, AFP said in its report. A total of 26 states are expected to comply soon, making abortion illegal in most of the South and the Midwest US.
In these states, pregnant women will then either have to travel hundreds of miles to an abortion facility or perform abortions on themselves at home using medication or other methods.
