Proposed School Cell Phone Ban
Civil Liberties Union
From Fitbits to smartwatches to period tracking apps, New Yorkers increasingly use apps, devices, and other digital tools, to monitor and maintain our physical and mental health. And, in the digital age, companies use sophisticated algorithms to ascertain our health information, aggregate data about us, and turn our electronic health data in to profit. For example, as long ago as 2012, Target was using shoppers’ purchasing habits to identify when they were pregnant – often before they themselves knew.
But, in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the stakes are even higher. It is impossible to have an abortion without leaving a digital trail. There will be search histories; possibly phone records, travel itineraries, or Fitbit or period-tracker app data; changes in purchasing history that suggest a pregnancy; and the list goes on. In fact, electronic health data have already been used to prosecute people for supporting others to access abortion care.
We need stronger privacy protections.
A.2141 (Rosenthal) / S.929 (Krueger) builds on the provisions enacted in Part U of the FY2024 Health and Mental Hygiene (HMH) Article VII legislation to holistically protect New Yorkers’ electronic health data as well as electronic health data generated in New York. The NYCLU urges its immediate passage.