Protecting Your Privacy in Post-Roe America

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 Protecting Your Privacy in Post-Roe America

Introduction

Within a blink of the eye, Roe v. Wade has ceased to exist. Abortion is no longer constitutionally protected in the US. Despite executive orders and actions being taken by Biden, the morbid truth is that if the court ever meant to uphold our privacy it would have never overturned the case to start with.

There is no denying that we live in a technologically and digitally advanced world which has led to an increased invasion of privacy and related issues. This case is no different. We hope with time people realize that safeguarding data online is not an individual responsibility but also the surveillance economy and the lawmakers of the US. But for now, Its up to Individuals seeking abortion care to protect their privacy from the government looking to criminalize abortion and other corporations that profit off their personal information until any legal protection is put in place.

By now, most of us have already heard about calls to delete our period tracking apps such as Flo and Clu to ensure that these apps can’t turn over any information as evidence to law enforcements. But is this enough?

As evidence shows, it's not even close to enough. Digital surveillance has become too vast of a problem for individuals to manage on their own. Period tracking apps are just one part of the problem for it is likely that every app on their phone is gathering some type of data such as location, biometric, health etc. that could be sold to law enforcement.

To Finally address the issue at hand, what are the other actions we can take to protect ourselves?

Like already established above, deleting period tracking apps isn’t enough as there are other apps too that are currently tracking us. Therefore the best course of action would be to start being more careful about your data in general, even if it doesn’t particularly regard to abortion related activities. 

Additionally, there are quite a few practices, tested apps and available services that we can put 

into use today itself.

  1. VPN 

Virtual Private Network or VPN (Such as Mozilla’s VPN) is a handy tool to prevent internet providers such as Verizon from tracking your histories on Browsers like Google.

  1. Web browsers

Web browsers such as Firefox supply a range of features that prevents its users' information from being exploited. Extending more examples we have Tor Browser, a browser that spontaneously regulates and clears history along with the private cookies and prevents the application from being pinpointed. 

  1. Messaging Services 

Messaging services play a crucial role when it comes to safeguarding intercommunications and other conversations/talks from the state. For this, Signal is the best equipped. It employs end to end encryption which basically ensures that messages are visible on the senders and receivers devices. Signal has also been well known to provide minimal information to enforcements such as date of creation of account, last time user logged in etc. Signal also has a disappearing message feature that allows the sender to ensure that a particular message is deleted from both the devices within a particular time frame.

Signal has been quite popular among journalists and whistleblowers who have to handle sensitive information.

To end with some common tips to always keep in mind is to regularly clear your cookies and web browser history when you can. 

It is also extremely essential that you ensure you switch your devices properly. For example, Using aforementioned services will be rendered pointless if  you have a robust web history and location tracking on your iPhone or Android. This makes it crucial to double check your privacy settings are set correctly everywhere.

Where do we come in?

At MetaJustice, we believe that everyone has the right to safeguard their privacy and be privy to the fact  how major companies or even the State is encroaching these rights. We aim and envisage to empower the truth by promoting a neutral dialogue and true rundown of events in these times where technology has far surpassed our ability to uphold moral values that shape in the form of laws and mutual trust.

As members of Metajustice, we aspire to keep you updated about all the current news and how you can safeguard your data starting today. 

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