Last May, EFF
reported that a sheriff’s office in Texas searched data from more than 83,000 automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras
to track down a woman suspected of self-managing an abortion. ALPRs are promoted as tools for keeping communities safe by finding missing persons and locating stolen vehicles, but this case showed how ALPRS can be weaponized to investigate people’s private healthcare decisions. And these aren’t the only tools in the surveillance arsenal: others include location
tracking tools like Locate X
, which can show a person’s visit to an abortion clinic, or
search histories
which might be used as evidence of a person’s interest in obtaining abortion pills. Taken together, these tools create a dangerous surveillance pipeline that threatens everyone’s health privacy.
Too often, though, the public is unaware of the threat, and one nonprofit is working to change that. Following EFF and 404 Media’s report on Texas’s use of Flock cameras, eye-catching billboards popped up in Houston, warning drivers that if they’re pregnant, the state of Texas could be tracking them.
Photo provided by Mayday Health
These billboards came from
Mayday Health
, a nonprofit dedicated to sharing information about abortion pills, birth control, and gender-affirming care. We spoke with Leo Raisner, Executive Director of Mayday Health, about the billboards to learn more about the campaign and organization and to discuss how surveillance affects reproductive freedom.
***
THOMAS: Why did Mayday Health start this campaign in Texas?
RAISNER: Well, we read the incredible reporting coming from EFF about
Texas's surveillance
. We want Texans to know their rights, to know their options, and to know that there are organizations and people who have their back. So we decided to put up a few billboards around the Houston area to remind people that they still have options.
Digital advertising in the space, as I know you're well aware of, faces enormo
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