Apple Addresses Roe vs. Wade Reversal

Image by Mark Thomas from Pixabay

27 JUNE 2022 - As had been expected, the Supreme Court of the United States overturned Roe vs. Wade on Friday. As the Los Angeles Times explained (via Apple News+):

The court's conservative majority said the Constitution does not protect the right to abortion, instead leaving the decision in the hands of state lawmakers.

A number of tech companies issued statements on the issue, including Apple. The Cupertino-company’s statement was made public in a Twitter post from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. He quoted Apple as saying:

We support our employees’ rights to make their own decisions regarding their reproductive health. For more than a decade, Apple’s comprehensive benefits have allowed our employees to travel out-of-state for medical care if it is unavailable in their home state.

With abortion becoming illegal in - literally - a single day in many states, there’s renewed focus by some on cycle tracking on Apple devices, including in Apple’s Health app. While there seems to be little concern about Apple mishandling such info, a piece from Apple Insider points out that various apps and devices are able to access information in the Health app. The site suggests checking your settings to see what apps do have access to such info. It’s honestly a good idea for anyone since, as the piece points out:

Unused apps sitting on the iPhone can still update internal databases and sync with the cloud using background processes.

In other words, just because you’re not accessing an app or service anymore doesn’t mean that app or service isn’t accessing your sensitive information. There is a lot of good information in the article - definitely worth checking out: “How to Ensure Apple Health Cycle Tracking Data Stays Private”