The post-Rowe era has begun, an era in which the United States no longer has an ordinance protecting the right to abortion at the federal level. An era in which each state can choose whether to enact laws prohibiting or severely restricting IVGs. American women are getting ready to live with less rights, remove period apps and worry about their privacy: can you find the nearest abortion clinic online? What are the risks? There are still many unknowns, much confusion and uncertainty about the future, but on Friday, under pressure from his staff and pro-choice activists, Google has said it will automatically delete location data when users visit abortion clinics.

The location data change will take place in the coming weeks.This is stated in a statement by Google Senior Vice President Jen Fitzpatrick. The policy will apply not only to abortion clinics, but also to the protection of “sensitive areas”.. “Some of the places that people visit, including medical facilities such as counseling centers, domestic violence shelters, abortion clinics, fertility centers, addiction treatment centers, weight loss clinics, aesthetic surgery clinics, and others, can be especially personal. “, the release says. we are announcing that if our systems detect that someone has visited one of these locations, we will remove those records from location history immediately after the visit.” The fact is that Google applications, starting with our smartphones, collect and store a huge amount of data and, according to activists, if legal proceedings are opened for illegal abortion, the state may ask the company to provide them as evidence against women.

The company also said that users will soon be able to delete their menstrual cycle data stored on Fitbit, the health-tracking app owned by Google, more quickly. Furthermore Google reminded to pay attention to existing settings on devices to improve online privacy. However, after the decision of the US Supreme Court, another Pandora’s box has opened regarding the relationship between privacy, data protection and technology in the context of a real war on women’s bodies and autonomy. Google’s gesture may be a trite pink laundering after the events, but it’s the first tech company to go public about how it will manage user data now that it risks becoming a tool of oppression in the hands of anti-abortion governments.