A group of more than 40 Democratic members of Congress has asked Google to stop collecting and retaining unnecessary location data out of fear that it could be used to identify and prosecute people who have obtained abortions.
The democrats in the letter say they believe that abortion is health care and will fight tooth and nail to ensure that it remains recognized as a fundamental right.
They said Google’s current practice of collecting and retaining extensive records of cell phone location data will allow it to become a tool for far-right extremists looking to crack down on people seeking reproductive health care.
The letter specifically references geofence warrants, a controversial technique in which law enforcement agencies request that tech companies provide data on all mobile phones that passed through a geographically defined area in a certain time period.