Corporations like Google & Facebook made headlines when they promised to support their employees’ reproductive choices in the wake of the Dobbs v. Jackson decision. But their data mining practices and cooperation with law enforcement endanger those who are already disproportionately subject to surveillance and prosecution.
Read Jessica Grubesic‘s revealing article: “No Place To Hide“
As plaintiffs’ attorney Eli Wade-Scott put it, “big tech’s business model is complete surveillance.”
Inconsistent state laws coupled and the lack of real data privacy place pregnant people and those who would help them access health care in real danger.
As early as 2012, statisticians employed by Target’s marketing team were using data to accurately predict whether customers were pregnant and when they were due to give birth.
Unbeknownst to Mary, her Android phone has been tracking her location data, giving Google insight into her normal routine and, today, her visit to the abortion clinic just over the state line in Florida. Even if she had known she was being tracked, there would be nothing she could do: Android’s software makes it impossible for the user to override its tracking capabilities by opting out.
Related Systemic Justice Project Resources
From The [F]law:
- Amer Mneimneh, Surveillance Advertising
- Amy Robinson, The Digital Divide is No Accident
- Haley Florsheim, The Salience of Emotional Harms
From The Systemic Justice Journal:
- Surveillance Capitalism: How Targeted Ads Solidify the Gender Binary
- Pro-Choice or No-Choice?: How Corporations Shape Employees’ Reproductive Decision-Making
- Stream a Little Dream: How Netflix Turned Our Culture into Content
- Facebook and Genocide: How Facebook contributed to genocide in Myanmar and why it will not be held accountable