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1 1 (July 7, 2022)

handle is hein.crs/govehmq0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Con gressionaI AaResearch Service Abortion, Data Privacy, and Law Enforcement Access: A Legal Overview July 7, 2022 In light of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women 's Health Organization, some Members of Congress and commentators have expressed concerns that law enforcement officials may seek to collect abortion-related personal data for prosecutions in states that have criminalized abortions. In Dobbs, the Court overruled Roe v. Wade and held that the U.S. Constitution does not grant individuals a right to an abortion. States now have much more discretion to criminalize abortion. Moreover, in the years before the Dobbs decision, 13 states passed trigger laws that were set to prohibit abortion, either automatically or following action by a state official, if the Supreme Court overturned Roe. Various types of personal data-such as health records, financial records, geolocation information, and electronic communications-might shed light on an individual's abortion decision, and law enforcement could seek such information, either directly from the entity collecting the data or from another entity to whom the data has been shared or sold. Federal law may affect law enforcement's ability to collect this information. The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution generally requires law enforcement officials to obtain a warrant before collecting personal data, although this requirement typically does not apply when the information is held by a third party. Beyond the Constitution, federal privacy statutes create disclosure protections for some categories of personal data, such as healthcare data, financial data, and electronic communications. Many entities not subject to these specific federal privacy statutes may still collect, directly or indirectly, data relevant to an individual's abortion decision, such as their geolocation data or web browsing activity. Data brokers, for example, collect a broad range of data on individuals and often resell those data. While not subject to any bright-line statutory privacy rules, these entities are still subject to the Federal Trade Commission Act's (FTC Act's) broad prohibition on unfair and deceptive acts or practices. This Legal Sidebar provides a high-level survey of the relevant constitutional and statutory law on this topic, and it concludes with considerations for Congress and links to other relevant CRS products. The Fourth Amendment The Fourth Amendment prohibits federal and state officials from conducting unreasonable searches and seizures. Under Supreme Court case law, a search may be unreasonable, even when there is not a Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov LSB10786 CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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