Threat Modeling Healthcare Privacy in the United States

The landscape of digital privacy risks faced by individuals seeking abortions has grown increasingly complex following the overturn of Roe v. Wade. Reproductive healthcare providers are uniquely positioned to offer critical privacy guidance. We conducted interviews with 22 reproductive healthcare providers across the U.S. to explore their perceptions of privacy threats for abortion-seeking patients and the types of guidance they provide. Our findings show that providers are most concerned about privacy risks for vulnerable patients—minors, individuals seeking gender-affirming care, and those in abusive relationships—particularly regarding information that could be intercepted by people close to them, such as partners or relatives. However, providers generally do not perceive government surveillance or hostile actors as major threats to abortion-seeking patients. We conclude with an updated notion of informed consent and preliminary recommendations for ways healthcare providers can revise their threat models to better support the privacy of abortion-seeking patients.