data collection
Facebook gave police entire chats of teenage girl – now she’s being charged with having an abortion
The fact that Facebook handed over the data caused debates (symbol image)
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Ever since abortion rights were overturned in the USA, fear of the consequences has been growing. Above all, the data collections of the tech companies are seen as a real danger. A recent case gives a foretaste of what is likely to happen even more frequently in the near future.
It’s a dangerous combination: After decades of legalized abortions, women in many US states suddenly have to fear prison sentences. At the same time, the data collection of the tech industry has made it easier than ever to prove a pregnancy through digital traces. A case in Nebraska now proves that those affected cannot expect any protection from Silicon Valley.
This is shown by court documents that have been published in recent days. 17-year-old Celeste B. and her mother Jessica B. were charged there with illegally terminating a pregnancy and several related offences. One of the most important pieces of evidence: the chat history on Facebook’s Messenger.
Abortion proven via chat
The group handed him over to the police as part of a search warrant, according to the documents. In the application, which requested all of the group’s social media data on the accused, the investigating police officers were primarily concerned with one question: was the child, as the teenager said, born still or was it killed after birth? Upon examining the data, they found evidence that the abortion had actually occurred.
According to the chat histories, Jessica had obtained and taken the drug Pregnot, which is approved for abortions, for her daughter. After the child was still born, the two women apparently buried it first, but then discussed on Facebook whether they should cremate the body. Both are part of the charge as concealing the death of a person.
Worry about the data hordes
The case is now making waves in the United States. The fact that the abortion took place before the Supreme Court ruling on the general right to abortion is hardly relevant. It would have been punishable either way: Celeste was already in the 28th week of pregnancy, an abortion in Nebraska has so far been possible up to the 20th week. The debate is more about what dangers arise from the combination of illegal abortions and the hordes of data in Silicon Valley.
The fact that Facebook stressed in a statement that no abortion was mentioned in the search warrant is unlikely to calm the fears of American women. For example, one of the greatest fears is being accused of having an illegal abortion, even in the case of natural miscarriages. The possibility of having an unwanted pregnancy terminated in another state is also much more dangerous than it used to be, given the traces of data.
Dangerous Pregnancy
The fact and cover-up being discussed in chats is only the most obvious case. From the huge amounts of personal data, indications of pregnancies can be drawn even if people in the immediate vicinity – or in extreme cases the parents themselves – do not yet know anything about it. Data from period apps, Google searches for morning sickness, and other signs then provide very early indications of possible pregnancy. Even if the child is then lost naturally at an early stage, it could be prosecuted as a possible illegal abortion, the fear is.
The circumstances of the current crime are likely to fuel this fear. The autopsy of the dead fetus, which was apparently carried out without a specific reason, found no signs of an abortion. Nevertheless, the police wanted to confirm a theory through the search and clarify whether the child could have been suffocated after birth.
Sources:Techcrunch, NBC, Vice