Every month, millions of women use apps to track their menstrual cycle. The data thus collected could now be used to incriminate American women who have abortions.
Posted at 7:00 a.m.
Updated at 7:14 a.m.
The invalidation of Roe v. Wade rekindled many fears in the United States. By revoking the right to termination of pregnancy, the Supreme Court allowed states to impose their own restrictions on abortion. Some would even intend to make it illegal.
If abortion is criminalized, data from menstrual cycle apps could be used as criminal evidence.
These applications, which invite women to enter their period dates, allow them to predict the time of their period. They can also be useful in identifying the right moment to conceive a child.
But if it falls into the hands of anti-abortionists, this technological tool risks becoming a weapon to incriminate women choosing to terminate their pregnancy who live in one of the states where abortion is prohibited.
For data to be used as evidence against you in a genuine criminal prosecution, which it could be, you would need probable cause to get a warrant.
Me Bernard Harcourt, professor of law at Columbia University, United States
In US criminal law, probable cause only requires a valid reason to believe that a crime has been committed. The police authorities can then obtain a search warrant.
According to the lawyer, the concern of the Americans is legitimate, since in the United States, search warrants are common practice.
“All you need is a sworn statement from someone that there is probable cause to believe someone has committed a crime. »
The same goes for Bryn Williams-Jones, professor of bioethics at the School of Public Health at the University of Montreal, who describes the United States as a “surveillance society”. According to him, fears about the sale of data are justified.
“It’s not so far-fetched because there are already examples of states trying to put in place laws to counter the movement of women who seek abortions elsewhere,” says the biotechnician.
Compromised data
The sale of data also raises fears, since they could land with certain anti-abortion groups, which would then file complaints against women who have had abortions.
There are also several ways to obtain this private information.
When a business is sold, the buying party often fires staff [en place] and retains intellectual property, which includes all data
Bryn Williams-Jones, professor of bioethics at the School of Public Health at the University of Montreal
The protection of information in Canada, however, does not concern Mr. Williams-Jones much, even if he considers that there could be risks.
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Bryn Williams-Jones, professor of bioethics at the School of Public Health at the University of Montreal
“We often use applications based in the United States. But our protection of privacy is a little more framed than in the United States, because every time we try to interfere a little in people’s private space, we recoil in the face of the outcry of the part of society. »
Pro-choice apps and groups react
Several founders of menstrual cycle tracking apps have reacted to the possibility that the data they collect could be turned against their users.
“My apps are 100% private,” wrote Gabrielle Lichterman on her MyHormonology site. There is no way to access, collect, or share the data you enter into your app. This has never been the case. And it never will be. I believe in confidentiality first. »
This possibility has also made pro-choice groups with whom The Press entertained.
“People have a right to privacy in their health care decisions and in the decisions they make about their bodies,” says Insiya Mankani, public affairs manager at Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights. .
Low-income people and people of color are already disproportionately under scrutiny.
Cherisse Scott, executive director of the reproductive rights association SisterReach
“Monitoring them will be even easier, as will getting them into the prison system, which is already an injustice, especially for black people in our country. »
To overcome the problem, SisterReach is planning a family planning campaign that will “allow women to track their cycle without using an app.”
According to Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights, resources used for the sale of data should be “redistributed to sexual and reproductive health centers and organizations that can help de-stigmatize abortion. »