Senators introduce data privacy law that would protect abortion-seekers
The Health and Location Data Protection Act faces hurdles in a Republican-controlled Congress.
Four U.S. Senators reintroduced legislation that would ban data brokers from selling sensitive location and healthcare information to antiabortion groups.
U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) reintroduced the Health and Location Data Protection Act, legislation banning data brokers from selling Americans’ sensitive personal information. Data gathered by brokers has been used to circumvent the Fourth Amendment, out LGBTQ+ Americans, and stalk and harass individuals.
“Data brokers are raking in giant profits from selling Americans’ most private information – even location tracking data from visits to clinics for reproductive care,” Sen. Warren said in a news release. “As Republicans ramp up efforts to criminalize abortion, it’s more important than ever to crack down on greedy data brokers and protect Americans’ privacy.”
Recently, some brokers have been caught selling the cellphone-based location data of people visiting abortion clinics, risking the safety and security of women seeking basic health care. That was to antiabortion groups that wanted to use the information as part of political campaigns.
The Health and Location Data Protection Act would ban data brokers from selling or transferring health and location data and require the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to promulgate rules to implement the law within 180 days. It would make exceptions for HIPAA-compliant activities, protected First Amendment speech, and validly authorized disclosures.
The law would ensure robust enforcement of the bill’s provisions by empowering the FTC, state attorneys general, and injured persons to sue to enforce the law. It would also provide the Federal Trade Commission with $1 billion in funding over the next decade to carry out its work, including enforcing this law.
Data privacy is also an issue because some state attorney generals have wanted to use digital information gathered by these apps to potentially prosecute women from their commonwealths who get or people who gave abortions when going across state lines. Concerns over healthcare privacy may conflict with some states’ efforts to investigate abortion as a criminal matter.
The primary concern for doctors and patients is that sensitive medical information about reproductive care may be disclosed to officers in commonwealths where the procedure is illegal or severely limited. This also puts healthcare providers in a challenging situation, as they may have to decide whether to follow federal guidelines provided by HIPAA or those given by state law.
In 2023, I interviewed health privacy expert Adam Greene for a newsletter I wrote. Greene said healthcare providers could be held in contempt by state courts if they don’t provide the information to law enforcement. Still, they could also violate HIPAA if they do so.
“It's a confusing mess,” Greene said. “And it's gonna be I think, many years until we see how all of this plays out in the courts. And that leaves healthcare providers in a precarious position because all this ambiguity makes it tougher for them to provide services that put their license at risk.”