Big Tech's post-Roe privacy freakout is probably pointless

With the overturning of Roe v. Wade, many are asking how Big Tech companies will protect women's digital privacy. After all, some states are sure to enforce new abortion laws, and the reality behind everyone's modern digital trail could betray information about people going to get abortions.

"For years, privacy advocates have raised concerns about this massive data trove, full of private messages, political affiliations and even sensitive health data," the Washington Post notes. "Now that type of information could be used to find, arrest and prosecute those getting or abetting abortions."

What this fearmongering article gets wrong is that no one is proposing prosecutions for women who seek abortions. It's misleading to think that all patients will be tracked 24/7 in a post-Roe society. As with all abortion laws before Roe, it is the abortionists who risk being sued or prosecuted, facing "fines, prison time and revocation of medical licenses." And as for being tracked — well, that's already happening to everyone who owns a cell phone.