Having data about our bodies tracked is so much a part of our daily lives that we sometimes forget it can be used against us.
When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, a deluge of articles warned people to delete their menstrual tracking apps. While these technologies can be useful for those seeking (or avoiding) pregnancy, these apps have come under fire in the past for selling intimate data to social media sites. With the changing legal landscape, privacy experts pointed out that this data could be used to criminalize people seeking abortions. Proponents of forced birth also recognize this potential, and are working to ensure that menstrual data remains open to search warrants. Turning this data into a site of political contestation raises questions of collective response beyond the limits of bodily autonomy.
It’s become normalized for data about our bodies and actions to be collected, quantified, and sold on the market. Facial recognition and body scans have become necessary to travel. Employer health insurance can require divulging health information from blood pressure to sexual...
What is the legal status of heritable human genome editing (HHGE)? In 2020, a comprehensive policy analysis by Baylis, Darnovsky, Hasson, and Krahn documented that more than 70 countries and an international treaty prohibit it, and that no country explicitly permits it. Policies in some countries were non-existent, ambiguous, or subject to possible amendment, but the general rule remained, even after one...
South Africa’s updated health-research ethics guidelines, which now include heritable human genome editing, have sparked concern among scientists. The revisions, made in May but only recently gaining attention, outline protocols for modifying genetic material in sperm, eggs, or embryos—changes...
It’s the wee hours of 2nd November 2024 in Cali, Colombia. In a large UN negotiating hall Colombian Environment Minister Susana Muhamed has slammed down the gavel on a decision that should send a jolt through the AI policy world. ...
A medicine built around a more precise form of CRISPR gene editing appeared to work as designed in its first clinical trial test, developer Beam Therapeutics said Tuesday. But the death of a trial participant could renew concerns about an older...
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