Wyden warns of location data at reproductive clinics being misused
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) called on federal regulators to intervene in a controversial data broker’s bankruptcy proceeding, warning the location data of people visiting abortion clinics could be at risk.
The Hill
Wyden’s office has been investigating Near Intelligence Inc.
since last year after a report by The Wall Street Journal uncovered that an anti-abortion group had used data from the company to target people who had visited reproductive clinics.
Since Roe was overturned in 2022, activists have warned that location tracking data may be used by officials in states with anti-abortion laws to target and prosecute people seeking abortion services as well as the clinicians who provide them.
“If a data broker could track Americans’ cell phones to help extremists target misinformation to people at hundreds of Planned Parenthood locations across the United States, a right-wing prosecutor could use that same information to put women in jail,” Wyden said in a statement.
Near Intelligence filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December. Wyden called on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to intervene and ensure that “all location and device data held by Near about Americans is promptly destroyed and is not sold off, including to another data broker.”
Anxieties over the use of location data to go after people seeking abortions have grown even as tech companies have promised to erase such information.
Refresher: Google committed to deleting the location data of consumers visiting reproductive clinics, but a study released last month by the nonprofit Accountable Tech found that this action only occurred about 50 percent of the time.
“A person seeking abortion would have the same odds as a coin flip to determine whether their location data might still be retained by Google and used to prosecute them,” Accountable Tech said of its findings.
Welcome to The Hill’s Health Care newsletter, we’re Nathaniel Weixel and Joseph Choi — every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health.
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