Google will remove location information indicating when users visit abortion clinics, the online search engine announced on Friday in response to worries that a digital trail may help law police identify someone who had an illegal abortion.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last month that abortions are no longer protected by the constitution, states have been forced to enact laws restricting abortions. The technology sector has been concerned that warrants could be obtained by the police for customer search history, geolocation data, and other information that might reveal pregnancy plans.
Without mentioning abortion, Google stated on Friday that it would keep fighting back against improper or excessively broad requests for data by the government.
According to the business, a Google account’s location history is disabled by default.
For individuals that use location history, sensitive locations like fertility clinics, abortion clinics, and addiction treatment centers will have their information quickly removed starting in the upcoming weeks.
Google did not immediately respond to questions about how the business would recognize such visits or whether all associated data would be deleted from its systems.
Separately, the business revised its policy on Friday to categorize US advertising as offering abortions even if they send out drugs by mail following a virtual consultation but lack physical facilities.
