Period-Tracking Apps After Roe v. Wade: Reproductive Justice & Feminist Cybersecurity
A Conversation with Julia Slupska and Stefanie Felsberger
Another day, another dystopia . . . . in this episode, we’re talking about reproductive justice and surveillance technology in a post-Roe v. Wade world.
I chatted with Julia Slupska, a DPhil Candidate at the Oxford Internet Institute researching feminist approaches to cybersecurity, and Stefanie Felsberger, a PhD Candidate in Gender Studies at Cambridge University studying surveillance, data capitalism and period tracking apps. We discussed whether you should be worried about your period tracking apps; how reproductive justice, eugenics and the carceral state intersect; and what a feminist approach to cyber-security might look like.
You can follow Julia Slupska on Twitter @jayslups and Stefanie Felseberger @Flsbrgr.
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Further reading from the episode:
By Julia and Stef:
Past Anti-Dystopians episodes with Stefanie Felsberger, Grab ‘em by the data (Jan 22) and Data Flows (Nov 2020)
Julia Slupska and Laura Shipp in The Conversation on what you need to know about surveillance and reproductive rights in a post Roe v Wade world
Julia Slupska on the BBC talking about IOT and smart speakers use in gaslighting and an academic chapter by Julia and Leonie Maria Tanczer on Tech Abuse as a Cybersecurity Challenge in the Internet of Things
Julia Slupska’s article, “Safe at Home: Towards a Feminist Critique of Cybersecurity”
Book Recommendations:
Women, Race and Class by Angela Davis (especially the chapter on Margaret Sanger, Planned Parenthood and eugenics)
Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction and the Meaning of Liberty by Dorthy Roberts
Reproductive Justice: An Introduction by Loretta Ross, Rickie Solinger
On Reproductive Justice:
Excellent legal analysis from Cynthia Conti-Cook, “Surveilling the Digital Abortion Diary”
On the privacy implications of the overturning of Roe v Wade in the US
More about California’s forced sterilization program (and how forced sterilization wasn’t entirely outlawed until 2014)
Samantha Cole at Vice on the different period tracking apps and what they do with your data
Facebook and Instagram remove posts offering information about abortion services
Court revokes parents’ custody of children after they fail to use Fitbits, follow weight loss plan
AI Data Laundering: How Academic and Nonprofit Researchers Shield Tech Companies from Accountability
Resources for protecting yourself online:
What I’ve been reading
MITReview: WeChat users are begging Tencent to give their accounts back after talking about a Beijing protest
Protocol: Square sells access to your inbox. No one seems to know if the law cares.
Axios: You can now get a digital license plate in California (run by corporations)
Vice: Ring Cameras Are Being Used to Control and Surveil Overworked Delivery Workers
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