Apple must secure reproductive health privacy, AG’s warn
Apple’s health tracking solutions are powerful, but following the Roe v. Wade decision a coalition of ten state attorneys are urging the company to put even stronger privacy protections in place to protect users, particularly women.
Protect women’s right to privacy
In a letter sent to Apple CEO Tim Cook, Attorney General Platkin led a group of 10 Attorneys General calling for privacy-enhancing measures. In that letter, they urge that Apple ensure that third party apps on its platform meet or exceed the standard of privacy the company demands.
It wants Apple to ensure that they do so, and/or to: “Implement appropriate protections for this sensitive data, exposing consumers that seek or provide reproductive health care to potential action and harassment by law enforcement, private entities, or individuals.”
The risk is that location history, search history, and adjacent health data poses to individuals seeking or providing abortions or other reproductive health care.
[Also read: Apple study finds COVID-19 jabs may lengthen menstrual cycle]
The Attorney General’s want Apple to put in place the following measures to protect such information:
- Delete data not essential for the use of the application, including location history, search history, and any other related data of consumers who may be seeking, accessing, or helping to provide reproductive health care;
- Provide clear and conspicuous notices regarding the potential for App Store applications to disclose user data related to reproductive health care, and require that applications do so only when required by a valid subpoena, search warrant, or court order; and
- Require App Store applications that collect consumers’ reproductive health data or that sync with user health data stored on Apple devices to implement at least the same privacy and security standards as Apple with regards to that data.
What they say
“Protecting reproductive privacy in the wake of the Dobbs decision is paramount. Despite promoting privacy as one of its ‘core values’ Apple simply has not done enough to ensure that private reproductive health data collected and stored by apps will not be used to track, harass, or criminalize those seeking to exercise their reproductive freedoms,” said Attorney General Platkin.
“With this letter, we are putting Apple executives on notice that New Jersey is prepared to use all its authority to impel them to protect the privacy of those accessing or providing legal reproductive health services.”
More information is here.
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