Women in Tech Podcast | Roe v Wade: Should women be worried about their data? with Melanie Garson

Women in Tech Podcast | Roe v Wade: Should women be worried about their data? with Melanie Garson

In this episode, Access Partnership’s Senior Policy Manager, Melissa Govender, interviews Melanie Garson. Melanie has a wealth of experience working in the tech industry, currently serving as Cyber Police Lead at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, as well as being an associate professor at University College London.

Following the Roe vs. Wade decision that has led to eight states in the US already making abortion illegal, many women have become increasingly worried about the amount of data online that governments could use to prosecute them. Melanie discusses how the Supreme Court decision has only made this issue of data privacy more apparent in the public eye, sharing her thoughts on the impact of this.

The podcast focuses on the question of what women can do to protect themselves against these concerns of data collection, with Melanie sharing her insights into some of the ways women can protect themselves, such as turning off targeted advertising and location data, as well as using encrypted apps like WhatsApp.

As well as diving into this important conversation on data privacy, Melanie also discusses the increased responsibility of women to take these extra measures to protect themselves, what the actions governments must take to assist women, and how the tech industry can take measures to support data privacy.

Watch the full episode here or you can listen to it in the link below:

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