Abortion Rights are Privacy Rights!
That’s it.
That’s what we’re talking about today on ThreatWire.
Greetings!!
I’m Shannon Morse and this is ThreatWire for June 28 2022 - this is your summary of
the threats to our security, privacy and Internet freedom.
Let’s get started with today’s news.
I realize that about 95% of y’all identify as male and may not think this story will
matter to you.
I also realize that about 4% of my audience on this channel identify as people with a
uterus and as such, may have considered downloading a period tracker in the past.
Side note about 1% have not specified “gender” using Youtube audience analytics.
But 100% of you have likely identified as human, I say likely because it’s obvious
I’m a cylon, so this story will matter to you or a person that you have come from because
we all showed up on planet earth in the same way.
So for the 4-5% of folks out there who like me are a minority in this industry and for
the 100% of you that probably have kids, mothers, sisters, aunts, or a wife as calculated by
audience age groups, let’s talk about how the Supreme Court’s ruling on Roe Vs Wade
could impact your digital security, and how we’ve been screaming warnings from the cybersecurity
front for the past decade.
While Texas’s bug bounty on people looking to get abortions should’ve been a red flag
for anyone interested in privacy rights, now we’re seeing several more states either
actively signing bills or working on their own to soon ban this critical access.
We already knew that this legislation could be used to sue anyone involved in abortion
access within these jurisdictions - including such a small task as an Uber driver driving
a person to an abortion clinic.
Tech companies are now being called upon to stop collecting user data that could be used
to sell them out to law enforcement.
Many companies have already decided to publicly say that they will reimburse any employees
or employee spouses or dependants on their health insurance if they have to travel from
an anti-choice state to one that allows critical health access.
BUT, they have been very silent on the topic when it comes to collection and storage of
user data.
While employees may be given some solace from the potential impact and harm of these laws,
users of these tech applications could still face fines and jail time.
That is because when data is collected by a company, and that company is within the
US, they could be subpoenaed by law enforcement and forced to turn over any data that they
may be collecting on you.
Motherboard journalist Joseph Cox reached out to many tech giants to ask if they would
provide data if requested by law enforcement on persons seeking or providing abortions.
That included social media platforms, monetary payment platforms, ISPs and cellphone carriers,
along with transportation services.
None directly replied but Snap did respond with a vague post about “evaluating how
it responds” to these requests.
According to a case brief from 2019, in which Google was subpoenaed to release location
data to tie a man to a bank robbery, they’d seen a huge increase in geofencing warrants
from 2017 to 2018 of 1500%, and from 2018 to 2019 they saw another 500% increase in
warrants.
Even though federal law requires the government to obtain a warrant to compel a company to
hand over this data (it’s called the Stored Communications Act), it is easily obtained
since many companies do have this data, with Google’s collection being even more accurate
than a cell tower.
We also already know from a 2016 report that non-government entities used location data
already to directly target people in women’s health clinics with ads using geofencing,
and we already know that this data is sold.
We also already know that women have been charged with feticide, laws that were originally
passed to protect women from assaults during pregnancy, but have been totally misused to
put them in jail instead for miscarriages or trying to manage an abortion on their own
when the US health industry ignores their needs, or quite frankly is too expensive.
In each of these cases, digital data was used to charge the women.
And while all of this assumes that a warrant is needed, if a person doesn’t know the
law and is requested to do so, they could hand over an unlocked phone thinking that
if they don’t, they’ll get in trouble.
But some platforms, like Signal, quite simply can’t offer up any data because they don’t
have access to that data.
Other apps, like period tracker apps, aren’t regulated and don’t fall within the legal
requirements of HIPAA.
Period tracker apps leave a trail of health data about users since they aren’t legally
required to protect that data, and some of them don’t even properly disclose whether
they are or not.
The EFF and privacy advocates have recommended that users delete these apps entirely.
But the brands can do something too by creating anonymous access, stopping behavioral tracking,
strengthening data deletion policies, encrypting data in transit, enabling end-to-end message
encryption that is opted in by default, preventing location tracking, and ensuring that users
get notice when their data is being sought.
Justice Clarence Thomas, who just so happens to have the same name as the demons my DND
campaign group is currently ass-kicking, has already stated that he intends to “correct
the error” established in precedents that have protected our privacy rights in our bedrooms,
including but not limited to contraceptive rights.
I hypothesize that we will see a huge increase in search warrants in states that have banned
abortion, with local governments approving more requests for license plate readers near
hospitals or pharmacies, and for mobile phone data search warrants even if it is just assumed
that you may be interested in reproductive health access.
We may see an increase in doxxing of persons who are suspected of being pregnant and looking
into buying a pregnancy test.
Rulings that could be used to surveil the data of one group of persons or demographic
could eventually be used to surveil the entire populace under the guise of protection.
So again, whether you’re in that 95% of my audience that can’t have babies or carry
them around inside your bodies for nine months but definitely plays a role in the creation
of one, and for the 4-5% who may be in the demographic to potentially give birth, this
affect 100% of the humans in my audience who care about data privacy, which you likely
do given you’ve found your way to our channel.
Even if you live in a state that cares about women's rights, if you converse via mobile
phone with persons in anti-choice states, your conversations could be seen by a third
party.
If you live in a state that allows access to abortions and are pregnant and fully intend
to carry to term but have to travel for work to keep your income flowing, if you run into
complications while traveling out of state, your data could be used against you.
As Corynne McSherry at the EFF said, this creates a huge database of information, it
creates a honeypot of information for law enforcement.
Your information could be included in warrants if you simply walk by a health clinic or drive
by a pharmacy.
Your data could be included even if you have absolutely no interest in women's bodily autonomy
aka a dragnet.
I’m including links to resources below in the description of this video.
Biggest of shoutouts to my Hush Puppy perk level patrons for sharing their fur baby photos
and for the support.
THANK YOU to Robert who joined the alliance on Patreon.com/threatwire.
Check out My youtube channel - youtube.com/ShannonMorse - where I just posted two videos about upcoming
Android tech.
Don't forget to like and subscribe to Hak5 and thanks for helping us reach 800000 subscribers!
I'm Shannon Morse, I'll see you on the Internet!