Privacy Should Be A Fundamental Human Right
6,300 signatures toward our 30,000 Goal
Sponsor: The Literacy Site
No one should live in fear of being tracked by their own phone and prosecuted for personal decisions. Take a stand!
Big Tech companies have massive stockpiles of intimate user data that could be used to enforce laws criminalizing personal decisions1. And there's currently no law or government requirement that these companies collect and keep records of its users' data2.
That means your digital footprint could be weaponized by state governments to prosecute you for personal decisions3.
Google currently collects and retains user location data, which can be easily acquired by state governments to identify people and track their activities4. A quarter of the court orders Google gets is for "geofence" data, which can show information on people near a particular location at a given time5.
While Google recently announced they will automatically delete the location data of users who visit "particularly personal" locations, there are still serious privacy questions that haven't been answered. How will those locations be identified? And what happens when this information is requested as evidence to prosecute individuals for political motives6?
Google has previously indicated that it will not delete search requests automatically, putting the burden on users who want to protect themselves to have to do that themselves7.
As Google reveals in its transparency reports, it routinely gets court orders, subpoenas and search warrants from law enforcement agencies looking to get their hands on user information. Google received 50,907 requests for disclosure of user information involving 115,594 accounts in the first half of 2021. A total of 82% of those requests resulted in the disclosure of some information8.
Besides Google, other tech companies say "privacy is a fundamental human right" and do not collect user location data9.
No one should be tracked and targeted for exercising their personal decisions.
As one of the most widely used services in the world, Google should prioritize privacy. User location data must be deleted before it is used to prosecute users for personal decisions.
Sign the petition and help us ask Google to delete all user location data to ensure the safety and privacy of all!
- Edward Helmore, The Guardian (2 July 2022), "Tech companies in spotlight as US abortion ruling sparks privacy threat."
- Thorin Klosowski, Wirecutter, The New York Times (6 September 2021), "The State of Consumer Data Privacy Laws in the US (And Why It Matters)."
- All Things Considered, NPR (30 September 2013), "Your Digital Trail, And How It Can Be Used Against You."
- David Nield, Wired (27 May 2019), "All the Ways Google Tracks You—And How to Stop It."
- Zack Whittaker, TechCrunch (19 August 2021), "Google says geofence warrants make up one-quarter of all US demands."
- Chris Smith, Newsbreak (4 July 2022), "Google will auto-delete abortion clinic visits from location history."
- Google Account Help, Google (2022), "How Google helps you delete data from your account."
- Mariella Moon, Engadget (25 May 2022), "Lawmakers ask Google to stop collecting location data before reversal of abortion rights."
- All Things Considered, NPR (1 October 2015), "Apple CEO Tim Cook: 'Privacy Is A Fundamental Human Right'."
The Petition:
To Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet,
As one of the most widely used services in the world, it should be Google's obligation to prioritize privacy. Instead, Google's user's are forced to live in fear that their usage data could be used to prosecute them for political motives.
Google currently collects and retains user location data, which can be easily acquired by state governments to identify people and track their activities. In fact, a quarter of the court orders Google gets is for "geofence" data, which can show information on people near a particular location at a given time.
No one should be tracked and targeted for exercising their personal decisions. Privacy should be a fundamental human right.
I implore you to ensure that Google delete its user location data before it is used to prosecute users for personal decisions.
Sincerely,
