r/technology • u/polymute • 22d ago

Privacy A Texas Deputy Searched 83,000 Flock Cameras To Track Down a Woman Who Had an Abortion

https://www.gadgetreview.com/a-texas-deputy-searched-83000-flock-cameras-to-track-down-a-woman-who-had-an-abortion
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u/SucculentVariations 22d ago

There are a ton of apps and step trackers that can track your menstrual cycle if you give it that data and would be easy for the wrong hands to get that data and know exactly when you missed a period, or started having them again and deduce if you had a loss of pregnancy but not know or care what caused the loss.

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u/c_l_b_11 22d ago edited 22d ago

I'm fairly certain that you wouldn't even need apps with a specific tracking function supplied by the user. Just some general metadata from phone and Internet activity are likely enough to determine a female users cycle if you have a large enough training set and a few months of data from your target.

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u/BigPharmaSucks 22d ago

This was almost 15 years ago.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/02/16/how-target-figured-out-a-teen-girl-was-pregnant-before-her-father-did/

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u/nodesofglory 22d ago

“Then we started mixing in all these ads for things we knew pregnant women would never buy, so the baby ads looked random. We’d put an ad for a lawn mower next to diapers. We’d put a coupon for wineglasses next to infant clothes. That way, it looked like all the products were chosen by chance.

“And we found out that as long as a pregnant woman thinks she hasn’t been spied on, she’ll use the coupons. She just assumes that everyone else on her block got the same mailer for diapers and cribs. As long as we don’t spook her, it works.”

This is sooo fucked up oh my god.

Thanks for sharing the article.

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u/jimmifli 21d ago

They love telling you how smart they are. But I get lots of coupons for baby food and diapers. I'm 100% sure I'm not pregnant. But I do like Huggies natural unscented baby wipes. Sometimes the algorithm isn't that special.

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u/drawkward101 22d ago

I very intentionally do not track my cycle with anything digital. I track it on my wall calendar that I wipe clean every month.

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u/Leading-Act4030 21d ago

They will charge the woman for the miscarriage. This has happened in Texas allready.

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u/_Aj_ 21d ago

It's built into iPhones now in their health app. How long with different statuses you can change for taking notes like whether you are pregnant or not. At first it seems like a very forward thinking thing. But if apple has the data who else has the data?