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First Page

783

Last Page

820

Document Type

Comment

Abstract

The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey in June 2022 was met with waves of both support and criticism throughout the United States. Several states immediately implemented or began drafting trigger laws that criminalize seeking and providing an abortion. These laws prompted several period-tracking app companies to encrypt their users’ data to make it more difficult for the government to access period- and pregnancy-related information for criminal investigations. This Comment explores whether the Fourth Amendment and U.S. privacy statutes protect users of period-tracking apps from government surveillance. More specifically, this Comment argues that the Supreme Court’s holding in Carpenter v. United States—that an individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy in their cell-site location information—should extend to personal information placed in period-tracking apps. This Comment also urges Congress to adopt a comprehensive federal privacy statute to address the gaps in consumer privacy protections currently in force at the federal and state levels. Our courts and government should recognize that the pervasive and comprehensive wealth of personal information on our cell phones deserves protection from government interference, especially when such information reveals the health and sexual intimacies of millions of women across the United States.

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