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Privacy

Texts and Web Searches Have Been Used to Prosecute Women for Abortions (msn.com) 391

Privacy advocates warn internet activity could someday be used to prosecute women who sought abortions. But it's already happened, reports the Washington Post.

In a handful of cases over the years, "American prosecutors have used text messages and online research as evidence against women facing criminal charges related to the end of their pregnancies." Despite mounting concerns that the intricate web of data collected by fertility apps, tech companies and data brokers might be used to prove a violation of abortion restrictions, in practice, police and prosecutors have turned to more easily accessible data — gleaned from text messages and search history on phones and computers. These digital records of ordinary lives are sometimes turned over voluntarily or obtained with a warrant, and have provided a gold mine for law enforcement. "The reality is, we do absolutely everything on our phones these days," said Emma Roth, a staff attorney at the National Advocates for Pregnant Women. "There are many, many ways in which law enforcement can find out about somebody's journey to seek an abortion through digital surveillance...."

Women have been punished for terminating pregnancy for years. Between 2000 and 2021, more than 60 cases in the United States involved someone being investigated, arrested or charged for allegedly ending their own pregnancy or assisting someone else, according to an analysis by If/When/How, a reproductive justice nonprofit. If/When/How estimates the number of cases may be much higher, because it is difficult to access court records in many counties throughout the country.

A number of those cases have hinged on text messages, search history and other forms of digital evidence.

In 2015 an Indiana woman received a sentence of 20 years in prison based partly on text messages she'd sent, according to the article (though that conviction was overturned).

It's provoked concern in countries around the world, and an activist group helping women travel to countries with less restrictive laws tells the Post that they now use encrypted messaging apps like Signal and VPNs to minimize records of their web searches.
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Texts and Web Searches Have Been Used to Prosecute Women for Abortions

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  • need to fight it all the way & don't take any deal just on the grounds of the 1st and that unlike pot it's not banned at the fed level.

  • The real agenda (Score:5, Insightful)

    by AlanObject ( 3603453 ) on Monday July 04, 2022 @01:33AM (#62671114)

    If every major, credible poll ever taken is to be believed, a substantial majority of the U.S. favors the right to abortions albeit with some stipulations. It is only a small minority that believe it should be outlawed 100% the way this is being forced on us now.

    Because of the quirky nature of our electoral system and the mindless/insane yet effective nature of the right wing, we are being ruled by a minority of religious extremists who think God is on their side.

    This isn't about protecting children, unborn or otherwise. It is all about the power to punish women who have sex in a way they don't approve. They don't care who has to die to satisfy their lust for power. They envy what the Taliban has.

    Anyone who believes that they will be happy now that they got what they want is an idiot. They are just getting started.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Don't forget the added side-effect of producing more humans to join your religion. Always good to have more kids, just ask the Catholics.

    • This isn't about protecting children, unborn or otherwise. It is all about the power to punish women who have sex in a way they don't approve.

      Early abortion wasn't banned by the Church until 1869, when it was decided that ensoulment happened at fertilization. Perhaps there's an element of punishing women in some people's motivation, but I think mainly it really does stem from a genuine belief that a fertilized egg is a human being.

  • by dromgodis ( 4533247 ) on Monday July 04, 2022 @02:05AM (#62671162)

    This is one reason why data privacy matters. Laws change under your feet by authoritarian government, and records of things that used to be legal can now be used to persecute you.

  • by Sleeping Kirby ( 919817 ) on Monday July 04, 2022 @02:43AM (#62671214)
    ... and not the fact that this is exactly the type of thing people have been worried about for our online information being sold by large corporations? This is in the same vein as prosecuting people for what books they borrow from the library. Like, what if you just wanted to know what an abortion is? Where is it available? How is it done? When is it necessary? All that is considered prosecute-able information. Sure it's being focused on women now, but with the laws going into affect, men can also be prosecuted if you "aid" an abortion. Which ranges anything from looking it up, telling someone where it's available, telling someone that it is available, stating what drugs might cause a miscarriage, etc. In fact, depending on what US state you're in, some people in the comments here have can be prosecuted by telling people to move out of state to get an abortion, which, under some state law, is considered illegal as you're tell them to go out of state for an abortion. Beliefs aside, this is a clearly bad and clearly Orwellian.
    • by splutty ( 43475 ) on Monday July 04, 2022 @04:46AM (#62671430)

      Salient detail. The reason privacy laws in Germany (and most of the rest of the EU) are so strict is because of exactly this.

      During Hitler's reign, the government used records on people, supported by IBM, to filter out all the jews.

      At this point privacy in the US isn't a slippery slope anymore, it's a pretty steep cliff.

    • by fazig ( 2909523 )
      Tell me about it. There's also plenty of historic precedent for stuff like this happening.
      For example similar shit happened in Romania under Nicolae Ceauescu's neo-Stalinism. Abortion was outlawed, contraception was outlawed, gynecologists regularly invading the privacy of women was mandated. So much for women enjoying equal rights under "Communism". Not having children was also taxed, giving further incentive to have children.

      All while the state used a lot or means to spy on people through their disprop
  • Just like the GOP conservatives wanted.
    Down with all progress made over the last 150 years.
    While you can enjoy your ride, your wife will be in the house cooking your meal.
    Doesn't it sound wonderful?
    And it perfectly fits the green ideology of the Democrats.
    Only somehow we need to sell them that slavery thing again.

    • As long as that horse & carriage have a decent spell checker, it might be an improvement.

      • As long as that horse & carriage have a decent spell checker, it might be an improvement.

        Why would a horse need a spell checker?

  • by RobinH ( 124750 ) on Monday July 04, 2022 @07:15AM (#62671700) Homepage
    Every 20 year old woman: "Why do you keep going on and on about invasive searches of phones and computers and privacy laws? The police can look through my phone if they want. If you're not doing anything wrong, you don't have anything to worry about." I hate being proven right, especially like this.
  • by BeTeK ( 2035870 ) on Monday July 04, 2022 @07:49AM (#62671756)
    I find really baffling the conversation about abortion in the US. It feels like republicans are driving ban on abortion which is stupid and also the democrats advocating unlimited right for abortion up to birth as stupid as full ban. My feeling is that vast majority of people in the US think that abortion should be legal up to some defined week and after that for medical reasons only. I have spoken lots of people from USA and they, from both genders, seen share this feeling. I think BOTH democrats and republicans are just using this issue to virtue signal for they voting base in most backwards way. Just my 2 cents and since I'm a Finnish person I don't have dog in this race :D
  • by gweihir ( 88907 ) on Monday July 04, 2022 @08:34AM (#62671860)

    When the state turns criminal, they will be using anything and everything against its citizens. Hence privacy and IT security actually matter.

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