Abstract
Now that the Supreme Court has revoked the constitutional right to abortion, we must reckon with the risks presented by our surveillance economy. Individuals, companies, and governments have access to, and information about, every detail of our intimate lives, including where we go (including a clinic or hospital), whether we have a health condition (including being pregnant), what we search, read, and purchase (including abortion pills), and what we communicate (including via text message or email). That information is being wielded against pregnant individuals, people helping individuals obtain abortions, and healthcare workers. It is being exploited to support criminal and civil liability, to empower domestic abusers, and to fuel harassment. Healthcare workers are using patients’ intimate data against them, undermining the trust necessary for medical care. Also on the line is the trust essential for love and community cohesion. We did not need more reasons to protect intimate privacy; the stakes were clear before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. But no matter, the time to act is now. This Article builds on my theory of intimate privacy as a civil right and lays out core commitments that lawmakers should adopt to protect intimate privacy. It highlights steps taken by the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general to set norms around the handling of intimate data, and it encourages more of these efforts. Then, it turns to reform proposals, using current federal legislative proposals as a guide and point of comparison.
Recommended Citation
Danielle Keats Citron,
Intimate Privacy in a Post-Roe World,
75 Fla. L. Rev.
1033
(2023).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/flr/vol75/iss6/1