who is unmistakably you. When women use health apps (particularly period-tracking apps), alter their buying patterns on shopping apps, change the types of foods they consume and log in nutrition apps, use GPS navigation to travel to health clinics or out of state, and search for health care, they are now putting themselves at risk of being tracked by law enforcement or turned in by bounty hunters, who only have to buy a bit of data to cash in on reporting women they suspect are seeking abortions. The Crisis Is Already HereA recent MotherboardMotherboard investigation found that it cost only $160 to buy data showing where groups of people visiting Planned Parenthood came from, how long they stayed at the center, and where they went afterward. A few years ago, The New York Times was easily able to identify and track one woman (with her permission) using the data from just one broker. They followed her to her job teaching math at a middle school, a Weight Watchers meeting, her dermatologist’s office, hiking with her dog, and her ex-boyfriend’s home. Popular period-tracking app Flo has been investigated by the FTC and faced a class-action lawsuit for selling its users' private health information to third parties for unrestricted use. According to the filing, this information included “name, email address, gender, date of birth, password or passcode, place of residence and associated location information, ID, weight, body temperature, menstrual cycle dates, various symptoms related to the user’s menstrual cycle and health, and other private health information including sexual activities, well-being, and related activities, including personal life.”Once Roe v. Wade is overturned, abortion is likely to be banned or restricted in 28 states. In some of those states, abortion will be criminalized, subjecting women who seek the procedure and anyone who aids them, including their doctors, to prison time. Birth control, emergency contraception, and IVF could soon face regulation or bans in the wake of new laws and criminal penalties that go along with them.Soon, It Will Become Much WorseData brokers have access to all of this information and more, and they can get it from one or more of millions of apps and websites. While Roe v. Wade was a federal ruling that extends the right to privacy to a woman’s decision regarding her pregnancy, no federal law guarantees data privacy, and the data that apps collect is often not regulated at all. And this is where women are going to find that the law is against them, many times over. No federal law guarantees data privacy, and the data that apps collect is often not regulated at all. And this is where women are going to find that the law is against them, many times over. many women have stopped using period-tracking apps. Yet as the examples above indicate, these apps are only one of the thousands of other ways that data can betray women seeking abortions. It is impossible to live in a way that evades them all. The onus for protecting privacy cannot and should not be on individuals. Federal data-privacy laws have stalled for a long time, mostly because tech companies have fought them. Even in the four states (California, Colorado, Utah, and Virginia) that do have such laws, only California offers any real protection, as the others were practically written by tech lobbyists. Tech companies have banded together under names including the State Privacy and Security Coalition and Technet to try to influence laws that are branded as data privacy but will really allow them to profit off personal information. Now is the time for true federal data-privacy laws that are free from the influence of Big Tech. The issue has never been more vital, particularly for women. For more information on data privacy and ways to take action, visit the Electronic Frontier FoundationElectronic Frontier Foundation.

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