For Immediate Release
S.T.O.P. Documents Ubiquitous Ad Tech Surveillance Of Abortion Websites
(New York, NY 2/21/24) – Today, the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.), a New York-based privacy and civil rights group, released Anti-Abortion Ad Tech: Ad Tech Puts Abortion Seekers at Risk, detailing near-ubiquitous ad tech surveillance of abortion providers’ websites, putting providers and patients at risk. Despite Google and Meta’s past statements supporting abortion access, they and fellow ad tech companies continue to track abortion scheduling and advocacy websites, collecting data that police can easily weaponize to target those seeking care out of state. The report comes a week after Senator Ron Wyden revealed that a location data broker tracked 600 Planned Parenthood locations across the country and shared the data with one of the nation’s largest antiabortion ad campaigns. The anti-surveillance group emphasized that the gravest threat to most abortion seekers is forgoing care, and emphasized that even as providers continue to fight this tracking, fear should never be a deterrent to abortion access.
SEE: S.T.O.P. Report - Anti-Abortion Ad Tech: Ad Tech Puts Abortion Seekers at Risk
https://www.stopspying.org/anti-abortion-adtech
Politico - A company tracked visits to 600 Planned Parenthood locations for antiabortion ads, senator says
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/02/13/planned-parenthood-location-track-abortion-ads-00141172
“Companies like Google pay lip service to abortion rights, but their continued tracking of abortion seekers online tells a different story,” said Surveillance Technology Oversight Project Research Director Eleni Manis. “This is not to say abortion seekers shouldn’t seek the care that they need online, as the threat to individuals is still low. But protecting abortion seekers and supporting the vital work of abortion-rights organizations requires unwinding surveillance capitalism in the healthcare arena.”
“Ad tech companies continue to make millions off of abortion patient data,” said Surveillance Technology Oversight Project Research & Advocacy Manager Corinne Worthington. “While Google’s recent location privacy updates are a strong step in the right direction, big tech must go further to protect abortion seekers by halting data collection on abortion scheduling and advocacy websites. Our report concludes that patients should not let these concerns deter them from seeking care, but it is squarely the responsibility of lawmakers and companies to prevent surveillance data from being weaponized against abortion seekers.”
“Unregulated ad tech is incompatible with democracy,” said Surveillance Technology Oversight Project Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn. “These trackers are a ticking time bomb for patients, and ad tech providers need to be held accountable for the harm they’re causing.”
Key Findings Include:
- Leading abortion providers have ad trackers on every page of their websites;
- Anti-abortion organizations, including “crisis pregnancy centers” routinely purchase this data to identify abortion patients;
- This same information could easily be purchased or seized by police using a warrant;
- Google made over $10 million in two years by showing ads for crisis pregnancy centers to people searching online for abortion pills and abortion resources;
- Google previously responded to privacy concerns by limiting geolocation data collection from abortion clinics and storing location data on users’ devices, but it has not taken any steps to prevent tracking visitors to abortion websites;
- There is an urgent need for state legislation to prevent the commercialization of this sort of health data.
Last July, S.T.O.P. released Roadblock to Care: Barriers to Out of State Travel for Abortion and Gender Affirming Care, a report detailing surveillance of patients seeking out-of-state abortions and gender-affirming care. In 2022, S.T.O.P. released the report, Pregnancy Panopticon: Abortion Surveillance After Roe, shortly after the Dobbs decision was leaked. The report outlined how even before Roe fell, abortion seekers were already being tracked through electronic surveillance, including their internet search histories, text messages, and smartphone-derived location data.
SEE: S.T.O.P. Report - Roadblock to Care: Barriers to Out of State Travel for Abortion and Gender Affirming Care
https://www.stopspying.org/roadblock-to-care
S.T.O.P. Report - Pregnancy Panopticon: Abortion Surveillance After Roe
https://www.stopspying.org/pregnancy-panopticon
The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project is a non-profit advocacy organization and legal services provider. S.T.O.P. litigates and advocates for privacy, fighting excessive local and state-level surveillance. Our work highlights the discriminatory impact of surveillance on Muslim Americans, immigrants, and communities of color.
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CONTACT: S.T.O.P. Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn.
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