iSpy Someone Getting an Abortion: The Use of Personal Data in the Post-Dobbs Era

Abstract

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s June 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, personal data has become a means of investigating and prosecuting individuals who seek or provide abortion services. With little federal oversight into the collection and disclosure of users’ personal data, third parties have significant latitude to sell or profit from sensitive information. The recent use of location and personal data implicates the privacy of millions of individuals and raises significant questions around health care and technology laws in states where abortion is now illegal. In the absence of sweeping federal regulations around data collection and disclosure, states ought to enact stronger legislation to protect their citizens from the exploitation of their most sensitive data.