New Law Buffers California Companies From Abortion Data Requests

Companies such as Alphabet Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc. are shielded from turning over user messages or searches to law enforcement in states that ban abortion under a new California law that’s likely to sow legal uncertainty.

The bill, signed into law by the state’s governor Tuesday, seeks to prevent California-based companies that provide communications or computing services from cooperating with out-of-state search warrants related to abortion investigations. The law is likely to affect “a large swath” of internet and telecommunications companies, said Andrew Crocker, a senior staff attorney on the nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation’s civil liberties team.

“In ...