It’s stunning how much big tech companies and data brokers know about us. But beyond an invasion of our privacy, the massive amounts of data being collected on everything we do are increasingly being used for surveillance by law enforcement.
With the looming demise of Roe v. Wade, this creates a significant online risk for those who may one day have an unwanted pregnancy, writes information scientist Nora McDonald. The lack of data privacy could become a threat to their health, legal status and social standing, she explains.
“Anyone in a state where abortion becomes illegal who relies on the internet for information, products and services related to reproductive health would be subject to online policing,” she writes. McDonald explains how people are at risk from their internet activity, cellphone use and even simply where they go.
Also today:
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Apps for tracking reproductive health are convenient, but the data they collect could be used against you.
Tarik Kizilkaya/iStock via Getty Images
Nora McDonald, University of Cincinnati
Data privacy is an abstract issue for most people, even though virtually everyone is at risk. If abortion becomes illegal, digital surveillance could take an even darker turn.
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Arts + Culture
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John Sullivan, Muhlenberg College
By implementing paywalls, making exclusive content deals and incorporating ad tech, big media companies have reshaped what was once an entirely free and open ecosystem.
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Health + Medicine
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Nathaniel Hafer, UMass Chan Medical School; Apurv Soni, UMass Chan Medical School
With the relaxation of mask-wearing mandates, there’s even more need to know how much over-the-counter tests help.
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Politics + Society
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Jillian Peterson, Hamline University ; James Densley, Metropolitan State University
A suspect apparently motivated by a white supremacist agenda shot dead 10 shoppers. Analysis shows that mass shootings – and those at grocery stores – are on the rise.
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Jennifer Selin, Wayne State University
Framers of the Constitution put in a clause giving lawmakers immunity from liability for any ‘speech or debate.’ Interpreting it may be key in the battle to get some Republicans to testify.
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Gretchen E. Ely, University of Tennessee
In 1983, a constitutional referendum outlawed abortion in Ireland. In 2018, another referendum repealed the ban and legalized abortion during the first trimester of pregnancy. What happened?
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Marcia Zug, University of South Carolina
Ukraine says thousands of Ukrainian children have been kidnapped by Russian soldiers, which is a war crime. The US government kidnapped and forced the assimilation of Indigenous children for decades.
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Science + Technology
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Phylindia Gant, University of Florida; Amy J. Williams, University of Florida
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and one of our closest neighbors in space. But it’s not a very welcoming place for an Earthling to visit.
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Ethics + Religion
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Robert C Ulin, Rochester Institute of Technology
An anthropologist writes that despite best efforts, there is no guarantee that children may not have been exploited in the production process of chocolate.
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Education
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Roy Jones, Clemson University
The Brown v. Board of Education case, which resulted in the Supreme Court outlawing school segregation, originally started in Clarendon County, South Carolina.
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