Accountable Tech Executive Director and Co-Founder Nicole Gill issued the following statement in response to a new rule from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services:
“We’re grateful for the Biden Administration’s new rule to support reproductive health care privacy under HIPAA. This rule will provide enhanced privacy protections for medical records and health information for individuals seeking or receiving reproductive health care, and for the doctors and health professionals assisting them.
“Unfortunately, people still face real privacy threats while seeking care due to the way Big Tech companies — like Google — collect and retain their location data. These data practices endanger the privacy and safety of individuals both seeking and administering reproductive health care. While today’s news is a positive step forward, we must continue to use every tool at our disposal to curtail Big Tech’s toxic business model of surveillance advertising. The stakes are far too high.”
Background:
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Read Accountable Tech’s research from January showing how Google is still collecting and retaining location data for trips to abortion clinics despite company commitments indicating otherwise from 2022.
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Read The Guardian’s reporting on our latest research on Google’s continued failure to live up to the spirit of its policy updates.
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Accountable Tech was the first nonprofit organization to document how Google was not meeting the spirit of its policy commitments to protect the privacy of those seeking reproductive health care with research published in November 2022.
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Read the Washington Post’s report on the letter sent by U.S. Senators to Google CEO Sundar Pichai citing Accountable Tech’s original research.
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Accountable Tech’s original research was also reported in the Washington Post and NBC News in 2023.
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Learn more about Accountable Tech’s #HeyGoogle campaign from last year, including a grassroots petition to urge structural reform alongside dozens of other advocacy organizations including GLAAD, UltraViolet, Supermajority, ReproAction, and Fight for the Future.
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