Abortions have always taken place, even when they have been illegal. But banning abortion in the age of online surveillance is something entirely new. Even though online data is anonymized, by combining a number of different data points, it’s possible for those with access to them to determine who the data belongs to. In the case of women, that can mean determining whether they’re pregnant or have had an abortion. Given that the state is both incapable and unwilling to protect online privacy – it is down to tech companies to act, limit their data collection, and protect the freedom of women, argues Nolen Gertz.