After being defined as an illegal practice in the United States, Internet companies have already begun to take action in this regard.
We already met the filters that Facebook began to apply in their publications and Google’s new advertising policies regarding this topic. Now, the latter company applied a new determination regarding location history.
Visits to potentially sensitive places will be automatically removed from Google’s location history
In response to the repeal of the legal measure that decriminalized induced abortion in the United States, Google announced that starting in the coming weeks they will begin to automatically remove visits not only to abortion clinics from the location history of its users —on purpose of contingency—but also to other spaces considered potentially sensitive, such as weight loss clinics or shelters for victims of domestic violence, among others.
In its announcement, the company clarified that this measure does not imply the immediate omission of this information in the records. Rather, this measure would be applied “shortly after” a visit is registered, after its detection by its systems.
The application of this measure is presented as a protection measure for users who go to these places, considering that this information could be used to prosecute them.
By legal mandate, companies in the digital world that manage personal information of their users, including Google, may be forced to provide data from their records for legal purposes.
Despite being under this position, Google declared: “We remain committed to protecting our users from inappropriate government data lawsuits, and we will continue to oppose lawsuits that are too broad or legally objectionable.”.
Along the same lines as the regulations on abortion, Google Fit and Fibit will also be subject to the application of new measures, through an update that will allow the elimination of menstrual cycle tracking records in the health tools of these devices.
Although these measures target very specific situations and places, other company services could be used as a means of judicial evidence, such as search histories on YouTube or Google itself. Based on what experience has shown, these data have already been used on previous occasions as evidence in judicial investigation processes.
Google proposes the application of these measures as an effort to guarantee the protection of the privacy of its users, also encouraging the promotion of agreements in pursuit of transparency and the proper handling of personal information.
Regarding these changes, it should be remembered that for those looking for a more radical option to protect their information, Google also offers the alternative of completely disable location logging in your accounts.
