Big tech companies have stayed silent about whether they will share consumer data to law enforcement in the case of abortion, causing frustration among some employees, The Washington Post reported June 29.
Employees of Facebook, Amazon, Google and Microsoft have all been venting their frustrations with their employers' lack of transparency in the issue, posting on message boards or starting internal petitions. The vast amounts of data these companies own on consumers worldwide could be used by law enforcement to find and prosecute those who get abortions in states where it's illegal.
"Digital evidence has just revolutionized how criminal investigations are conducted in this country," said Catherine Crump, a law professor and director of the Samuelson Law, Technology and Public Policy Clinic at Berkeley Law. "We live our lives online, we leave digital breadcrumbs of our prior activities, and of course those are going to be caught up in abortion investigations."
Ms. Crump told the Post that the companies will most likely abide by state law and handover data when needed, but she argued that they should be transparent with consumers about this. Amazon, Microsoft, Apple and Google all declined to comment for the article.