Given the changing state of the law, people seeking an abortion or any type of reproductive health care that could end with the termination of a pregnancy may need to pay close attention to their privacy and digital security. we have already covered how those involved in the abortion access movement can keep themselves and their communities safe. We have also presented a guide to principles for platforms. respect the privacy of users and the rights to bodily autonomy. This post is a guide specifically for anyone seeking an abortion who is concerned about their digital privacy. There are many crossovers with the tips outlined in the guides mentioned above; many tips are worth repeating.
We’re still not sure how companies can respond to law enforcement requests for abortion-related data, and you may not have much control over your options. But you can do a lot to control who you’re giving your information to, what kind of data they get, and how it might be connected to the rest of your digital life.
Keep this data separate from your daily activities
If you are concerned about legal pressure, the most important thing to remember is to keep these activities separate from less sensitive ones. This can be done in many ways, but the underlying idea is to keep that information separate from other aspects of your “normal” life. This makes it more difficult to trace back to you.
Choosing a separate browser with enhanced privacy settings is a free and easy start. Browsers like Brave, Firefox, and DuckDuckGo on mobile are easy-to-use options that come with enhanced privacy settings out of the box. It’s a good idea to look in the “preferences” menu of the browser of your choice and further increase your privacy settings. It’s also a good idea to disable this browser’s features to remember browsing history and site data/cookies. This is what it looks like in Firefox’s “Privacy and Security” menu:
Firefox cookie and history options in your privacy menu
How to disable Firefox’s feature that remembers browser history
If you are calling clinics or health care providers, consider keeping a secondary phone number as google voice (what is free), silencedeither Burner (Both Hushed and Burner are paid apps, but they have significantly better privacy policies than Google Voice.) Having a separate email address, especially one with privacy and security in mind, is also a good idea. Some email services you might consider are tutanota Y proton mail.
mobile privacy
One way to protect your privacy is to get a “disposable phone,” that is, a phone that is not connected to your regular cell phone account. But keeping a disposable phone super secure can be difficult for many people. If so, consider reviewing your current cell phone privacy settings to see what information is collected about you, who collects it, and what they might do with it.
If you’re already using a period tracking app, carefully examine its privacy settings. If you can, consider switching to a more privacy-focused app. Euki, for example, agrees not to store any user information.
Turn off ad identifiers on your phone. We have featured a guide to do it on iOS and Android here.. This restricts the ability of individual apps to track your behavior when you use them and limits the sharing of that information with others.
While you’re at it, it’s a good idea to review the other permissions apps on your phone have, especially location services. For apps that require location data for their core functionality (like Google Maps), choose an option like “While Using” that only gives the app permission to see your location when it’s open (remember to completely close those apps when you’re running). finished using them).
If you have a “Find My” feature turned on for your phone, such as Apple’s feature to see where your phone is from your other computers, you’ll want to consider turning that off before you travel to or from a place that you do not want someone else to be able to see you visit.
If you are traveling to or from a place (such as a clinic or a rally) where there is a chance that the police will stop you or confiscate your device, or if you are often near someone who may search your phone without permission. , disabling biometric unlocking is a good idea. This means disabling any features to unlock your phone using your Face ID or fingerprint. Instead, you should opt for a passcode that is hard to guess (like all passwords: make it long, unique, and random).
Since you’re likely to use your phone to text and call other people who will share similar data security and privacy concerns as yours, it’s a good idea to download Sign, an end-to-end encrypted messaging app. For a more complete tour, take a look this guide for android Y this for iOS.
lock and encrypt
Anticipating how the data on your devices could be seized as evidence is a scary thought. You don’t need to know how encryption works, but it’s vital to make sure it’s turned on for all your devices. Android and iOS devices have full disk encryption enabled by default (although it is worth checking). Doing the same with your laptops and other computers is just as important. Encryption is likely enabled by default for your operating system, but it’s worth checking. Here’s how to check MacOSY also for Windows. Linux users should look up guides for their choice of distribution and how to enable full disk encryption from there.
Delete and turn off
Removing stuff from your phone or computer isn’t as easy as it sounds. For sensitive data, you want to make sure it’s done correctly.
When deleting pictures from your phone, be sure to delete them from the “recently deleted” folders. here’s a guide on iOS permanent removal. Similar to iOS, Android’s Google Photos app requires you to delete photos from its “Bin” folder, where it stores recently deleted images over a period of time.
For your computer, using the “secure delete” features in Windows or MacOS is a good move, but it’s not nearly as important as making sure full disk encryption is turned on (discussed in the previous section)
If you’re especially worried that someone might learn about a specific place you’re traveling to or simply turning off your phone and leaving your laptop at home is the easiest and most foolproof solution. Only you can decide if the risk outweighs the benefit of keeping your phone on when traveling to or from an abortion clinic or demonstration. For more reading, here is our guide on how to safely attend a protestthat can help you make that decision for yourself.
Source: www.eff.org