MILWAUKEE INDEPENDENT: Surveillance capitalism and abortion law
UC information technology expert Nora McDonald writes opinion piece on data privacy
In an op-ed on privacy and abortion law, UC’s information technology expert Nora McDonald, explains how the overturning of Roe v Wade has the potential to hurt already marginalized populations who rely on the internet for information.
“Many marginalized people happen to be women, including low-income mothers, for whom the mere act of applying for public assistance can subject them to presumptions of criminal intent,” writes McDonald, an assistant professor of information technology in UC’s School of Information Technology.
McDonald writes that anyone in a state where abortion becomes illegal who relies on the internet for information, products and services related to reproductive health would be subject to online policing; and the policing could extend to anything relevant to pregnancy. For example, browser searches for abortion clinics or pregnancy symptoms.
“Before, women had to worry only that Target or Amazon might learn of their pregnancies. Based on what is already known about privacy incursions by law enforcement against marginalized people, it is likely that in a post-Roe world women will be more squarely in the crosshairs of digital forensics.
The op-ed, which appears in the MILWAUKEE INDEPENDENT, originally appeared in The Conversation, also provides tips on online in a pre and potential post-Roe world.
Featured image at top: Adobe
Impact Lives Here
The University of Cincinnati is leading public urban universities into a new era of innovation and impact. Our faculty, staff and students are saving lives, changing outcomes and bending the future in our city's direction. Next Lives Here.
Related Stories
6 ways starting a GLP-1 medication could affect your emotions
May 20, 2026
When patients first start taking a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) medication, they probably expect to feel full. But they might not anticipate how it can influence their emotions. The medications act on the stomach and the brain, said Malti Vij, MD, a University of Cincinnati adjunct associate professor in the College of Medicine's Department of Internal Medicine and a diplomate of the American Board of Obesity Medicine.
Donald P. Klekamp College of Law at the University of Cincinnati naming celebration
May 19, 2026
Joy reverberated in the atrium at the Donald P. Klekamp College of Law at the University of Cincinnati on Friday, May 15, 2026. Laughter, smiles, heartfelt speeches and an appearance by the Bearcat made for a special afternoon for the family, friends, University of Cincinnati alumni, students, faculty and leadership who gathered to celebrate the renaming of the college.
$15 million bequest supports endowed chair at UC College of Medicine
May 19, 2026
As a student and resident at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, George G. Bemis, Jr., MD, Med ’64, saw firsthand that medicine was more than a profession for those teaching and leading him. Inspired by their sense of calling, he knew he wanted to pursue the same path.