State governments looking to protect health-related data as it’s used in abortion battle

By GEOFF MULVIHILL
Associated Press

State governments across the U.S. are adopting or considering laws that would block the sale of personal health data or information about who visits sensitive sites such as sexual health facilities. Medical records are protected by a federal privacy law, but information collected by a lot of apps is not. State legislation is trying to close that gap. Data privacy is not a new concern, but there’s been a heightened awareness since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and state abortion bans started kicking in. The Federal Trade Commission has also been using a ban on deceptive practices to sue data brokers.