10 Senators Call On Google to Uphold Location, Health Data Privacy Practices

A group of 10 United States Senators penned a letter to Google asking for answers about its location data privacy practices. In July 2022, Google announced plans to delete location history when users visit abortion clinics, domestic violence shelters, fertility centers, weight loss clinics, addiction treatment centers, and other facilities.

At the time, Google outlined plans to automatically delete select location data from its systems when it identified that a user had visited one of the aforementioned places. The announcement stated that the change would take effect “in the coming weeks.”

However, recent reporting from the Washington Post revealed that more than 10 months after that announcement, Google is still storing exact location information for these facilities. These findings prompted US Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Peter Welch (D-VT), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Edward Markey (D-MA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Patty Murray (D-WA) to question Google.

“Another report found that Google failed to delete sensitive location data in nearly 60 percent of test cases over the last several months,” the Senators wrote. “Claiming and publicly announcing that Google will delete sensitive location data, without consistently doing so, could be considered a deceptive practice.”

The letter posed several questions to Google to clarify its intentions, including inquiring about how Google’s systems identify whether someone has visited a sensitive location, and a complete list of the types of locations Google considers to be sensitive.

“A spokesperson for Google has stated that Google deletes entries for sensitive locations ‘soon after’ a visit,” the letter stated. “For how long after a user visits a sensitive location does Google store an entry for the visit? When does Google delete the entry?”

The Senators also asked Google whether it allows advertisers to target ads based on sensitive location data, and whether the tech company would commit to deleting sensitive information relating to mental healthcare, addiction treatment, and reproductive care within 24 hours of a user’s visit.

This letter is far from the first time that US Senators have taken interest in the privacy practices of big tech companies, specifically in relation to reproductive care and the sharing of sensitive health and location data.

In March, Senators Klobuchar, Warren, and Hirono introduced the Upholding Protections for Health and Online Location Data (UPHOLD) Privacy Act, aimed at preventing the use of health data for advertising purposes.

The UPHOLD Privacy Act would prohibit the use of “personally identifiable health data collected from any source, including data from users, medical centers, wearable fitness trackers, and web browsing histories” from being used for commercial advertising. Additionally, the Act would restrict data brokers from buying or selling precise location data.

“For too long companies have profited off of Americans’ online data while consumers have been left in the dark, which is especially concerning in light of reports that some social media companies collect data related to reproductive health care,” Klobuchar said at the time.

“By stopping the use of personal health information for commercial advertising and banning the sale of location data, this legislation will put new protections in place to safeguard Americans’ privacy while giving consumers greater say over how their sensitive health data is shared online.”