Alphabet Inc.’s (GOOGL.O) Google will delete location information that shows when people visit an abortion centre, the web-based search giant said Friday. This is because people were worried that a digital trail could show police if someone ended a pregnancy illegally.
Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that foetal removals are not generally protected by the constitution. As a result, states have started putting limits on foetus removals, and the tech industry is worried that police could get warrants for customers’ search history, geolocation, and other information that could reveal their plans for having children.
Google said on Friday, without mentioning abortion, that it will continue to fight against bad or too broad requests for information by the government.
The company said that a Google account’s location history is wrong by nature.
People who really use local history will be able to get rid of sections that show sensitive places like poverty centres, abortion clinics, and drug treatment centres soon after a visit.
A Google representative couldn’t tell me right away how the company would know about these visits or if all information about them would be removed from its servers.
Separately, the organisation changed its plan on Friday to count U.S. sponsors as giving foetus removals even if they send pills by mail after a virtual consultation but don’t show up at its own offices.
