Examining State “Shield Laws” Two Years Post-Dobbs
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Following the Supreme Court’s June 2022 Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade, some states have banned or restricted abortion access while others have enacted protections against abortion-related prosecutions. The competing trends are prompting questions about how patients and providers located in one state will be impacted by the laws of another, especially when law enforcement demands disclosure of sensitive electronic information related to abortion care.
This week, on the two-year anniversary of the Dobbs decision, CDT released a new resource that examines the “shield laws” that 19 states have implemented to protect the information of providers and recipients of reproductive health services from being shared in response to out-of-state investigations. The breadth of these shield laws varies state by state; in our report, we compare which restrictions and protections are in place across the country.
While new state and federal privacy protections are important, governments and companies should take additional steps to ensure individuals have agency over their own health care, and dependable, powerful privacy protections. In a separate piece, we discuss how the legislative and regulatory landscape has changed at the federal and state levels since Dobbs, with recommendations for how policymakers and companies can ensure patient privacy and limit collection of data that reveals sensitive health information.
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 | Portrait-style photograph of CDT Europe Director and Secretary General Asha Allen.
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— Asha Allen has been appointed the new Director and Secretary General of CDT Europe! Previously serving as the organization’s Deputy Director and its Programme Director for Online Expression & Civic Space, Allen is a leading voice in digital rights and an award-nominated intersectional policy expert on online gender-based violence.
— CDT joined dozens of other civil society organizations in urging the House Energy & Commerce Committee to reinstate civil rights protections in the American Privacy Rights Act (APRA), which was ultimately pulled from markup this week after support for the bill cratered. As CDT CEO Alexandra Givens said in a statement, “Discriminating through data practices is one of the worst things companies can do with data, and one of the worst privacy-related harms experienced by society. Privacy legislation needs to clearly prevent discriminatory data practices, and APRA no longer does that. Members should oppose this version of the bill.”
— We endorsed the bipartisan, bicameral Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consensual Edits (DEFIANCE) Act, which would provide meaningful clarification and enhancements to existing law for those harmed by the nonconsensual sharing of intimate images, including AI-generated images. Additionally, CDT, the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, and the National Network to End Domestic Violence formed a new multistakeholder working group to prevent and mitigate the harms caused by image-based sexual abuse.
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 | Graphic for CDT's podcast, entitled "CDT's Tech Talks." Hosted by Jamal Magby, and available on iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, and TuneIn. Dark grey text and app logos, as well as light blue text, on a white background.
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— CDT filed an amicus brief before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Doe v. Grindr, explaining that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act doesn't preclude product liability for claims that wouldn't impose a duty on an interactive computer service to moderate, monitor, or otherwise prevent user-generated content.
— New episodes of CDT’s Tech Talk podcast are available: In the first, we sit down with CDT non-resident fellow Paul Gowder to discuss his new book The Networked Leviathan. In the second, Grace Gedye, Policy Analyst for Consumer Reports, and Matt Scherer, Senior Policy Counsel for CDT, discuss AI decision-making systems and related bills introduced by lawmakers in 10 states.
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CDT in the Press — CDT’s Samir Jain was quoted by Ars Technica on the Supreme Court’s decision in Murthy v. Missouri: "Hopefully, the Court’s decision will allow appropriate and useful interactions between government actors and social media platforms to resume, while incentivizing the government to take care that its communications are understood as informative or persuasive rather than threatening or coercive.”
— CDT President and CEO Alexandra Givens discussed the PREPARED for AI Act with Roll Call: “There’s an open question in the market right now about what responsible AI systems look like,” she said. “And so if the government leads by example and creates mechanisms where those types of standards and criteria have to be addressed, that can send an important signal to the private sector as well and shape the development and creation of those types of standards.”
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 | CDT's Tim Harper is interviewed by Cox Media's Kirstin Garriss.
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— On the anniversary of Dobbs, CDT’s Aliya Bhatia published a piece in Tech Policy Press arguing that, in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision, anonymity online helps keep pregnant people safe.
— CDT’s Ariana Aboulafia told Forbes, “Algorithms and algorithmic systems are based on pattern recognition and a lot of folks with disabilities exist outside of a pattern … These algorithmic systems may, to a certain extent, be inherently incompatible with creating an output that's not discriminatory against people with disabilities.”
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CDT "in Person"— Mark your calendars! CDT’s Tech Prom is returning this year on Thursday, November 14 at The Anthem in Washington, D.C.—stay tuned for more details.
— On July 12, CDT’s Ariana Aboulafia will speak on a panel at the 48th annual AAAS Science & Technology Policy Forum, to discuss how to center AI policies in trust, safety, and security.
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 | Miranda Bogen, wearing a burnt orange top and black jacket, smiling in front of a grey background.
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How long have you been working in digital rights?I started working at the intersection of data and civil rights nearly a decade ago after I finished graduate school. I originally thought I was going to go into international diplomacy and conflict resolution, but I became really interested in how technology companies and governments interact around the world, and decided to focus on tech policy. I was very lucky to land at Upturn at the beginning of my career in digital rights and had the opportunity to work on issues from law enforcement use of technology to preventing discrimination in online ads to AI in hiring—all issues which have only become more relevant over the years.
What is your proudest moment while here at CDT? I've been proud since day one, since that marked the founding of CDT’s AI Governance Lab! We realized that AI policy was moving from conversations of principles and goals to questions of implementation, and wanted to make sure that civil society was in a position to be actively involved in those conversations. It's exciting that we've been able to demonstrate that expertise and grow the team, and I'm looking forward to the Lab having even more impact in the coming year.
What is the most recent cultural activity you’ve been to? I went to a concert this past weekend of a band that mashes up bluegrass and hip-hop!
Cats or dogs? My hunch is dogs, though I've never had either.
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