With Roe in doubt, some fear tech surveillance of pregnancy

Until individuals have complete control over their data with force of law, there will be no privacy online.

The only way I know to make that happen is to force payment for collection of the data directly to the individual and prevent any 3rd party sharing of data at all, with force of law.

We've learned that companies lie all the time. They take data and claim they don't know who it is, but because they buy data from 20 different providers, they get a much fuller idea and correlate the data from different sources down to an individual.

In the US, with just 4 pieces of data, which aren't considered sensitive, it is possible to know the name of an individual. Zip, M/F, birth date, and 1 other item (that I won't name). 3 of those items can be bought from govt records like the DMV and/or voter lists. For any states, the voter lists were free until about 5 yrs ago. Then they added a nominal fee for access to prevent wide spread abuse. Of course, people like me were grabbing a copy of all the records when they were free just to see what it contained. Basically, a text file with x million records for the state. Not everyone registers to vote and children obviously aren't on the list.

https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/privacy/special-topics/de-identification/index.html says that 50% of the US population only needs 3 items of information to be uniquely known, not including name(s).

When I read these stories, to counter depression, I like to watch The Flinstones where technology involved non polluting cars etc. but then I realized somebody out there was studying the fact that a grown person was watching children’s cartoons and I’m being profiled.

privacy is a human right.

I agree with you Rodney!

However, why do "women of color like Jones" face particularly dire consequences?

Because proportionately more are poor, live in areas with limited health care, work jobs that do not offer health insurance (I have worked at many such jobs), work at jobs that do not offer sick leave or any kind of paid time off (again, I have worked many such jobs) and do not have the money to afford an abortion and the necessary time off out of pocket. Many such women do not have cars and must rely on public transportation, which would be very unpleasant and maybe cause complications after an abortion. Many of these women will already have children to care for, an absent father and no one to help them. Ms. Jones discussed in the article is an exception, not the rule. Most women of color in the US struggle economically and have poorer educational opportunities than whites. All of this puts them at a distinct disadvantage compared to while women.

When Chandler Jones realized she was pregnant during her junior year of college, she turned to a trusted source for information and advice.

Poor girl--possible pregnancy by rape or incest--or maybe she faced health problems if she were to give birth.

Digital privacy was the last thing on Jones's mind when she found herself pregnant. She and her boyfriend both had ambitious career goals. She was in crisis mode.

Oh wait--pregnant from an irresponsible decision, and using abortion as a form of brith control.

Interesting article, I agree largely that privacy online in general is a huge issue, with data being used as a commodity. However, why do "women of color like Jones" face particularly dire consequences? From the article, she is educated and privileged, a soon to be lawyer. If anything, she faces far less serious consequences than poorer, less educated people.

Plus of course, not only women get pregnant. The article ignores that fact and is obviously written from a transphobic perspective.