London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Sep 15, 2026

Senate Dems call out Apple, Google mobile tracking, warn of abortion-related data privacy risks

Senate Dems call out Apple, Google mobile tracking, warn of abortion-related data privacy risks

Letter comes amid growing privacy concerns around abortion-related data following Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade ruling

Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren, Ron Wyden, Cory Booker and Congresswoman Sara Jacobs are urging the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Apple and Google for failing to warn consumers about the potential harms associated with advertising-specific tracking IDs in their mobile operating systems.

"These identifiers have fueled the unregulated data broker market by creating a single piece of information linked to a device that data brokers and their customers can use to link to other data about consumers," the lawmakers wrote in a letter Friday. "This data is bought or acquired from app developers and online advertisers, and can include consumers’ movements and web browsing activity."


While consumers can opt out of the tracking, they argue that Apple and Google have "enabled governments and private actors to exploit advertising tracking systems for their own surveillance and exposed hundreds of millions of Americans to serious privacy harms."

"The FTC should investigate Apple and Google’s role in transforming online advertising into an intense system of surveillance that incentivizes and facilitates the unrestrained collection and constant sale of Americans’ personal data," the letter continues. "These companies have failed to inform consumers of the privacy and security dangers involved in using those products. It is beyond time to bring an end to the privacy harms forced on consumers by these companies."

The letter places a particular emphasis on the potential vulnerability of individuals seeking abortions and other reproductive healthcare following the Supreme Court's decision on Friday to overturn Roe v. Wade.

"Data brokers are already selling, licensing, and sharing the location information of people that visit abortion providers to anyone with a credit card," the lawmakers state. "Prosecutors in states where abortion becomes illegal will soon be able to obtain warrants for location information about anyone who has visited an abortion provider. Private actors will also be incentivized by state bounty laws to hunt down women who have obtained or are seeking an abortion by accessing location information through shady data brokers."

A Google spokesperson told FOX Business that the company "never sells user data" and that Google Play strictly prohibits the sale of user data by developers.

"The advertising ID was created to give users more control and provide developers with a more private way to effectively monetize their apps," the tech giant added. "Any claims that advertising ID was created to facilitate data sales are simply false,"

In addition to the ability to delete the advertising ID at any time, Google has rolled out Privacy Sandbox on Android to limit data sharing with third parties. A spokesperson for Apple did not immediately return FOX Business' request for comment.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco-based digital privacy rights group, advises internet users who are concerned about their abortion-related data to carefully review privacy settings on the services they use, turn off location services on apps that don’t need them and use encrypted messaging services.

"Everyone deserves to have strong controls over the collection and use of information they necessarily leave behind as they go about their normal activities, like using apps, search engine queries, posting on social media, texting friends, and so on," EFF executive director Cindy Cohn and legal director Corynne McSherry said in a statement. "But those seeking, offering, or facilitating abortion access must now assume that any data they provide online or offline could be sought by law enforcement."

It also suggests that companies should protect users by allowing anonymous access, stopping behavioral tracking, strengthening data deletion policies, offering end-to-end and in transit encryption, preventing location tracking and ensuring that users get notice when their data is being sought.

In addition, the organization calls on state and federal policymakers to pass meaningful privacy legislation.

At least 13 states in the country have so-called "trigger laws" banning most abortions that will take effect immediately or within weeks of Roe v. Wade being overturned.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, a pro-abortion rights research group, those states are Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming, which just passed its trigger law in April.

There are also five additional states – Alabama, Arizona, Michigan, West Virginia and Wisconsin – that still have an abortion ban on the books from before Roe v. Wade that will go into effect now that the 1973 landmark law is overturned.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
HMRC Warns Nearly Seven Million Adults Are Unclear About State Pension Entitlements
UK Parliament Passes Sovereign Grant Reform Before Conference Recess
British Rail Passengers Gain Automatic Right to Switch Operators During Disruptions
Burnham Hosts Downing Street Business Summit as UK Fiscal Pressure Builds
Labour Government Moves to Challenge £72 Million in Reform UK Crypto Donations
UK Advertising Industry Warns Wider Junk Food Rules Could Put £1 Billion in Media Spending at Risk
Cornwall Opens Devolution Talks With UK Government Over Transport and Local Services
UK Parliament Considers Sovereign Grant Reform Setting Royal Funding at £99.9 Million
Trades Union Congress Calls for Income-Based Energy Tariff Funded by Higher Bank Levy
UK Prime Minister Rejects Second Scottish Independence Referendum
House of Lords Begins Scrutiny of Bill to Lower UK Voting Age to 16
Anthropic Says Claude Was Exploited in Weapons-Related and State-Linked Cyber Activity
Institute of Directors Urges UK Government to Avoid Business Tax Increases in Autumn Budget
Rising Gilt Yields Cut UK Fiscal Headroom to About £13 Billion Ahead of Budget
UK Economy Grows 0.4% in July as Services and Technology Activity Strengthen
UK Government Promises Clearer Student Loan Guidance After Repayment Backlash
Charities Warn Unpaid Carers May Die Before Receiving Government Compensation
Dover Unrest Prompts Review of UK Counter-Extremism Strategy
Celtic Summit Leaders Reassert Right to Pursue Independence From UK
NHS Records Busiest Summer on Record Amid Severe Heatwaves
Harrods Faces Potential £150 Million Compensation Bill Over Al Fayed Abuse Claims
UK Parliament Opens Debate on Landmark Assisted Dying Legislation
Metropolitan Police Investigate Reform UK Over Alleged Foreign Electoral Donations
UK Economy Expands 0.4% in July as AI Investment Boosts Activity
Bank of England Signals Caution on Rates as Inflation Pressures Persist
Tesco Alerts Police After Scammers Use Its Branding in AI-Generated Fraud
Lindy Cameron Appointed First Female Permanent Under-Secretary at UK Foreign Office
UK Government to Rewrite Student Loan Guidance After Mis-Selling Criticism
Welsh First Minister Warns Andy Burnham Government to Respect Devolution
Trump’s Falkland Islands Remarks Trigger New Diplomatic Tension With Britain
Reform UK Receives Record £72 Million Donation From Cryptocurrency Billionaires
UK Bans Imports From Israeli West Bank Settlements and Sanctions Supporting Institutions
Bayeux Tapestry Draws Large Crowds at British Museum
Cuts to International Aid Raise Concerns Over Fragile Overseas Health Systems
UK Airlines and Logistics Operators Adjust Capacity as Fuel Costs Rise
UK Mortgage Arrears Edge Lower in Second Quarter
UK Government Advances New Devolution Offers for English Councils
UK Parliament Begins Debate on NHS Governance and Single Patient Record Reforms
Andy Burnham Launches Number 10 North Devolution Initiative
UK Parliament Rejects Assisted Dying Bill for Terminally Ill Adults
UK Bans Goods From Israeli Settlements in the Occupied West Bank
UK Economy Grows 0.4% in July as Technology Services Strengthen
Metropolitan Police Continue Investigation Into Reform UK Political Financing
Chinese Crypto Entrepreneur Leon Li Identified as Seller of £190 Million London Mansion
Trades Union Congress Proposes Social Energy Tariff Funded by Higher Bank Surcharge
British Chambers of Commerce Calls for State Pension Triple Lock to Be Scrapped
Anthropic Says Claude Helped Disrupt Biological Weapons and Cyber Espionage Threats
UK Imposes Sanctions Over Israeli Settlements and West Bank Violence
UK Reimposes Sectoral Sanctions on Iran’s Aviation, Shipping and Energy Networks
UK Economy Grows 0.4% in July as AI and Programming Services Lift Activity
×