Google Will Remove Location Info Following US Abortion Ban

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JAKARTA - Technology company Google will automatically delete information about users who visit abortion clinics following the abortion ban announced by the United States Supreme Court recently.

Google outlined the new privacy protections in an official blog post.

In addition to automatically removing visits to abortion clinics, Google also mentions counseling centers, fertility centers, addiction treatment facilities, weight loss clinics, and cosmetic surgery clinics as other destinations that will be removed from users' location history.

Further, users also always have the option to edit their own location history, but Google will proactively do that for them as an added level of protection.

"We are committed to providing strong privacy protections for the people who use our products, and we will continue to explore new ways to strengthen and improve these protections," said Google Senior Vice President Jen Fitzpatrick.

The pledge comes amid increasing pressure on Google and other big tech companies to do more to protect sensitive personal information through their digital services and products from government authorities and other outsiders.

Calls for tighter privacy controls were fueled by the recent US Supreme Court ruling overturning the Roe v. Wade legalized abortion.

The reversal could make abortion illegal in more than a dozen states, raising the specter that records of people's locations, texts, searches, and emails could be used in prosecutions against abortion procedures or even for the related medical treatment sought.

Like other technology companies, Google annually receives thousands of government requests for users' digital records as part of a breach investigation.

Google says it rejects search warrants and other demands that are too broad or appear unfounded.