Google announced that it will start automatically remove information about visits to abortion clinics, domestic violence shelters, weight loss clinics, and other sensitive locations from users’ location history. The feature will be available in the coming weeks. The company says that the data will be deleted shortly after the visit as soon as the systems determine that a person has visited one of these places.
The changes come as a result of a US Supreme Court ruling that cancelled abortion rights, prompting some states to immediately make abortions illegal. Google’s post, titled Protecting People’s Health Privacy, also announces updates to Fitbit. It will allow you to delete multiple logs with menstrual data at the same time, if the health tracking function was used.
The update will remove data from Google servers that could be used against people seeking medical help. However, the company continues to store data about other user activities. YouTube search and history can also be evidence. Regarding them, the company did not announce any innovations.
By law, Google must comply with government requests and can hand over data if it exists. However, the company says it “continues to oppose claims that are overbroad or legally unacceptable.” Google also says that it will warn users about the transfer of their data only if companies do not order it not to do so or there is no acute threat to security.
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