Vagina Privacy Network is an organization created in response to increased abortion surveillance in states with abortion bans post Dobbs.
From their website:
Your body is your business — and no one else’s. And it’s your right to access the information you need to make choices about your body and your future.
Today, if you’re searching for abortion care or reproductive health information online, it will often leave a digital trail. But there are steps you can take to protect your digital privacy.
That’s why we created the Vagina Privacy Network: a new kind of ‘VPN’ with a step-by-step protocol for those who want to stay anonymous online — so your private parts stay private.
Vagina Privacy Network
The website provides tips to keep personal information private while searching for reproductive health care, calling providers, scheduling appointments online, and more. They also offer a complete guide to digital privacy that is available to download from the homepage.
The list of tips they provide include things like; Download a secure web browser: “When searching for local resources, make sure to mention your area when searching, as your location will be hidden when using a secure browser.” Chat through encrypted messaging apps: “Apps like Signal offer more protection than text, email, or social media direct messages. Be sure to turn on ‘disappearing messages’ as well.” Make calls to clinics using a burner phone: “If you’re concerned about leaving a record of a call regarding your reproductive health, you could use a pre-paid phone or an app like Hushed.” The list consists of 7 privacy tips, with more included in the full guide.
Vagina Privacy Network Organizers
The network was created by MSI Reproductive Choices and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).
From the Vagina Privacy Network website:
About MSI
We are MSI Reproductive Choices. We believe that everyone should have the freedom to determine their own future, on their terms. Our teams work across 36 countries and six continents to provide and advocate for abortion and contraception, supporting over 93,000 people with their reproductive choices every day.
About EFF
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading nonprofit organization defending civil liberties in the digital world. Founded in 1990, EFF champions user privacy, free expression, and innovation through impact litigation, policy analysis, grassroots activism, and technology development. EFF’s mission is to ensure that technology supports freedom, justice, and innovation for all people of the world.
Abortion Laws
If you’re a woman living in a state with an abortion ban (Iowa recently became the 15th state to enact a ban on abortion after 6 weeks), there might be surveillance happening already or there could be new policies from Republican state legislatures on the horizon. If you need to perform activities related to reproductive health care online or over the phone, follow the tips from the Vagina Privacy Network’s homepage to protect yourself from any type of abortion surveillance, and don’t forget to share the website with friends and family.
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