Google has not followed through on its promises to delete sensitive user-location information, including visits to abortion clinics, as outlined in a complaint filed with the Federal Trade Commission and provided to Bloomberg Law.
The nonprofit privacy research and advocacy group, Electronic Privacy Information Center, has asked the FTC to investigate Alphabet Inc. for “unfair and deceptive trade practices” in handling the data. This complaint comes after ongoing reports that Google continued to collect location data for users visiting abortion clinics and other sensitive locations, despite promises made by the company in July 2022 to delete those records.
The complaint states that the collection of location data can cause harm to consumers, as it can reveal sensitive personal practices, potentially leading to criminal prosecution and discouraging individuals from seeking vital healthcare services.
Accountable Tech, a nonprofit tech watchdog project, also signed the complaint and conducted experiments showing that Google retained abortion seekers’ location data about half of the time. The findings, first reported by The Guardian, raise concerns that Google is not complying with its 2011 FTC Consent order regarding the privacy of data, including physical location.
Google has disputed the claims, stating that the company is upholding its promise to delete particularly personal places from Location History, and any claims to the contrary are false.
The complaint outlines specific cases where Google continued to track individuals’ location data despite the promised policy change. It asks the FTC to impose civil penalties, require Google to delete sensitive location data, and force the company to adopt data-minimization practices with meaningful oversight.
Although Google has promised to delete its existing data, it only announced in December that it was changing the ‘location history’ feature on Google Maps so that data will be kept only on users’ devices, making Google unable to see it. The move is expected to have significant implications for law enforcement access to data through geofence warrants.
Sara Geoghegan, counsel at EPIC, emphasized the need for the FTC to enforce data-protection rules, stating that a mere promise from Google is not enough to protect sensitive location information.
The complaint follows increased scrutiny by the FTC against sensitive location data tracking, including a recent settlement with databroker, Outlogic, banning it from sharing or selling sensitive location information.