MassLive.com | Company tracked visits to 600 Planned Parenthood clinics, investigation finds
Originally published on MassLive.com
An anti-abortion political group used the cellphone location data of individuals visiting 600 Planned Parenthood locations in 48 states, according to an investigation by U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.’s office.
The data was also tracked in Massachusetts, according to the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts.
The Wall Street Journal first reported on the issue in May last year.
“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. “Federal watchdogs should hold the data broker accountable for abusing Americans’ private information. And Congress needs to step up as soon as possible to ensure extremist politicians can’t buy this kind of sensitive data without a warrant.”
Wyden asked the Federal Trade Commission that the location and device data that held by Near Intelligence, a data broker, be destroyed and not sold to other companies or data brokers. The Democratic lawmaker also asked the The Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate whether the group violated any laws.
In Massachusetts, legislators and reproductive advocacy groups said the findings by Wyden shows the importance of supporting a statewide bill — the “Location Shield Act,” also known as Bill H.357 — that would ban the selling, leasing, trading or renting of cellphone location data.
“This investigation shows that purchasing location data to target Planned Parenthood patients or providers is part of the anti-abortion playbook, not just in restrictive states but everywhere,” Nate Horwitz-Willis, executive director of the Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund of Massachusetts, said.
“We can prevent this happening in Massachusetts by passing the Location Shield Act. By stopping the sale of location data, we can safeguard the privacy and security of abortion providers and give patients greater confidence that their medical decisions will remain safely between them and their doctor,” Horwitz-Willis said.
According to research conducted by ACLU of Massachusetts and Beacon Research, 92% of Massachusetts voters support the passage of a law to prohibit the sale of location sharing in the state.
In January, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea J. Campbell said she supported banning the sale of cellphone location information in the Commonwealth.
Any individual located in Massachusetts would be covered under the Location Shield Act, even if the individual lived in another state, making the bill potentially beneficial for individuals traveling from states such as Texas where strict abortion restrictions are in place,Rebecca Hart Holder, president of Reproductive Equity Now, said in December.
Individuals traveling from out of state would have their cellphone location data shared as normal until they hit Massachusetts state lines, state Rep. Kate Lipper-Garabedian, D-32nd Middlesex, one of the bill’s sponsors, told MassLive in December.
The bill, however, also has several limitations, allowing location data to be shared for a “permissible purpose” without user consent, including for law enforcement purposes such as a federal, state, or local government agency serving a warrant or in response to an emergency service agency, an emergency alert, a 911 communication, or any other communication reporting an imminent threat to human life, according to the bill.
Although abortion is legal and protected in Massachusetts, the bill would allow healthcare decisions to become more privatized, Lipper-Garabedian told MassLive in December.
“This latest report proves that Massachusetts is not immune from 21st century anti-abortion attacks — this data privacy crisis is right here in our backyard. If these extremists are able to use our location data to target abortion seekers with digital advertising, they can also use it to harass, threaten, or litigate against patients and providers in our state. Massachusetts has a responsibility to protect our location data and ensure that this personal information cannot be sold to hostile, out-of-state actors,” Hart Holder said.
