The Biden White House took a step towards shoring up among the privateness points which have been raised following the Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade. In a brand new addressing abortion entry and different points, the White House advised that it’s making an attempt to extend privateness protections for individuals looking for reproductive healthcare, although it’s not clear what insurance policies might change because of the motion.

The order factors to “the potential threat to patient privacy caused by the transfer and sale of sensitive health-related data and by digital surveillance.” And it affords some steerage to different companies, just like the FTC, although it stops in need of proposing new rules.

Instead, the order appears to depart a lot on the discretion of the FTC and the Department of Health and Human Services. For instance, it says the chair of the FTC is “is encouraged to consider actions … to protect consumers’ privacy when seeking information about and provision of reproductive healthcare services.” It additionally states that the Attorney General and the Secretary of Health and Human Services ought to “consider actions to educate consumers on how best to protect their health privacy and limit the collection and sharing of their sensitive health-related information.”

Biden’s govt order comes after privateness advocates and activists have warned that the dearth of federal privateness rules might have for individuals looking for abortions post-Roe. Period monitoring apps have gotten outsize consideration, however specialists say the problem runs far deeper than only one sort of app. And whereas the chief order doesn’t contact on points like information brokers or the huge assortment of non-public info by tech firms, the problem has gotten the eye of Congress. On the identical day as Biden’s govt order, a gaggle of Democrats from the House Oversight Committee launched into 5 information brokers and the businesses behind 5 fashionable cycle monitoring apps.