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Hi Friend, I’m excited about this: I’ve just reintroduced my bill, the My Body, My Data Act, in the House of Representatives.

This is an essential piece of legislation that would create a new national standard to protect our personal reproductive health data. The bill addresses the huge gap in privacy laws that we need to fill if we’re going to keep pace with the new and emerging technologies we use every day. By minimizing the personal health data that is collected and retained by apps, cell phones, and search engines, we can prevent our data from being disclosed, misused, or weaponized.

That last piece - the weaponization of our data - is the dystopian-level threat that we’re actually facing right now, so let’s talk about it for a minute. Listen, apps and websites have been collecting and using our personal data for years - we know that, and it can be helpful! - but in this post-Roe v. Wade era, we’re seeing the consequences of this digital surveillance intensify.

Every day - every minute that we’re on our phones and devices - we’re generating data that could be used against us, or against our health care providers and allies. Our locations, search histories, texts and emails - even our reproductive health data from things like period tracking apps - it’s all collected by companies and websites that can exploit our data and ultimately lead to very real threats to our safety and privacy.

The My Body, My Data Act would address these key issues in several ways:

*
Limit
data
collection.
Prevent
companies
from
being
able
to
share
or
sell
your
data
by
ensuring
that
those
who
collect,
retain,
or
use
your
personal
reproductive
and
sexual
health
data
are
limited
only
to
what
is
strictly
needed
to
deliver
a
product
or
service.
*
Expand
consumer
protections.
We’ll
provide
additional
protections
like
giving
consumers
the
right
to
access,
delete,
or
correct
their
personal
data
if
they
choose
to
do
so.
*
Expand
data
protections.
Current
laws
like
HIPAA
only
protect
your
health
information
when
it’s
being
used
by
doctors
or
health
insurers,
leaving
a
huge
gap
in
protection
for
data
collected
in
apps,
cell
phones,
and
search
engines.
*
Require
new
privacy
policies.
Companies
must
develop
and
share
a
privacy
policy
outlining
how
they
collect,
retain,
use,
and
disclose
your
personal
reproductive
health
data.
*
Enforce
the
law.
We’ll
make
sure
the
federal
trade
commission
(FTC)
enforces
the
law
and
develops
rules
to
implement
the
statute.
*
Ensure
accountability.
Should
companies
violate
our
data,
the
bill
includes
a
private
right
of
action
to
allow
individuals
to
hold
them
accountable.
This
part
is
a
big
deal.

As attacks on abortion access increase, my bill will create essential protections for vulnerable individuals. 19 states have already banned or severely restricted abortion - which puts people in those states at increased risk of having their digital footprints weaponized against them.

And this isn’t just a hypothetical - the criminalization of abortion (and miscarriages and stillbirths) is already happening , as prosecutors are exploiting this gap in federal data protections to enforce cruel anti-abortion laws.

We need urgent action to strengthen digital privacy and protect our reproductive health information so that it can’t be used or weaponized against us, and this bill is a great first step to creating this framework and offering some immediate solutions to deter bad actors.

If you agree, please join me by adding your name in support of my bill right now.

We have a long way to go to ensure our privacy laws address the needs of this century as new technologies continue to advance. I’m proud of this work and this bill, and I hope you know how much I appreciate your help and support in moments like these.

-Sara
Congresswoman Sara Jacobs
California’s 51st District


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United States
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