With almost everything now centered on social media, it will only take a matter of time before apps become a vital component of law enforcement in the world.
As some companies allow third-party data sharing to the authorities, women and other people involved in illegal abortion need to be more careful because they can now be tracked via Facebook chat logs.
Law Enforcers Can Track People Practicing Illegal Abortion
As Insider reports, the selling of abortion medication from at least nine online pharmacies is still ongoing.
Investigative journalism news website ProPublica found out that some websites are sharing confidential data with Google.
The news outlet cited that the following pharmacies are sharing the user's sensitive details such as users' addresses and locations to notable third-party sites including Facebook.
Online Abortion Pill Rx
- Abortion Privacy
- BestAbortionPill.com
- Secure Abortion Pills
- AbortionRx
- PillsOnlineRX
- Generic Abortion Pills
- PrivacyPillRX
- Online Abortion Pill Rx
- Abortion Ease
This means that law enforcement agencies can now freely request data from these companies if they are looking for a specific person or organization involved in an illegal activity.
However, this was not something new to the authorities anymore as it's already been a long practice since social media apps came out several years ago.
Chat Logs About Illegal Abortion
According to Mashable, there's a case in Nebraska where authorities accused Jessia Burgess of helping her daughter to undergo the illegal practice of abortion.
As evidence to solidify their claims, the law enforcers relied on the chat logs provided by Facebook's parent firm Meta. The conversations discussed where to find people or pharmacies selling abortion medications on the online platform.
In another story, The Guardian reported that police arrested a woman from South Carolina after taking abortion pills.
The 33-year-old woman was charged with soliciting an abortion. The details about this case can be viewed in a South Carolina paper yet it's still a developing story at the moment.
The report does not state the reason why it took so long for the authorities to arrest the woman. Additionally, it does not say who told the police about the woman's whereabouts. A healthcare professional who practices abortion may be also the one who tipped the woman to the law enforcers.
Related Article : Experts Raise Privacy Concerns on Telehealth Sites Gathering Users', Patients' Data
Social Media as a Pawn of Law Enforcers
The arrival of social media platforms has established a strong basis for evidence when it comes to tracking criminals online.
Using third-party data as evidence helps the authorities easily find the potential culprit behind a particular case.
However, Santa Clara University's professor Eric Goldman who teaches law subjects said that the authorities only used social media as a "pawn" in prosecuting the involved women in illegal abortions.
Back in June 2022, Tech Times reported that Facebook and Instagram began taking down posts that offer abortion pills to women. The move came following the Supreme Court's order to remove the legal protections for this case.
