Can the FTC To Protect Abortion Seekers

A group of senators are urging the Federal Trade Commission to protect data privacy for people seeking abortions or other reproductive health care. The request highlights the potential far-reaching impacts of the Supreme Court’s anticipated decision reversing Roe v. Wade The draft decision raised concerns about how undoing Roe could impact privacy protections, given the original decision was largely based around the right to privacy between a pregnant person and their doctor. Exacerbating concerns is the fact the US does not currently have a federal privacy law, though some states such as California have their own protections. The senators asked the FTC to outline measures it’s taking to make sure consumers are able to review and remove personal information online, ways it would address mobile phone apps that collect and sell location data and how it’s coordinating with the Department of Justice, states and health care providers to prevent data broker access to such information. They also asked the FTC, which many lawmakers believe has been historically underfunded, needs additional resources to keep such personal information from being bought and sold by data brokers.