Privacy and Safety Experiences and Concerns of U.S. Women Using Generative AI for Seeking Sexual and Reproductive Health Information
It addresses privacy and safety issues for women seeking sensitive health information, particularly in restrictive legal contexts, but is incremental as it builds on existing user-centered research gaps.
The study investigated how U.S. women use generative AI for sexual and reproductive health information, finding that while adoption is driven by factors like utility and accessibility, users disclose sensitive details and face privacy risks such as data collection and surveillance, with heightened safety concerns for abortion-related queries.
The rapid adoption of generative AI (GenAI) chatbots has reshaped access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) information, particularly following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, as individuals assigned female at birth increasingly turn to online sources. However, existing research remains largely model-centered, paying limited attention to user privacy and safety. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 18 U.S.-based participants from both restrictive and non-restrictive states who had used GenAI chatbots to seek SRH information. Adoption was influenced by perceived utility, usability, credibility, accessibility, and anthropomorphism, and many participants disclosed sensitive personal SRH details. Participants identified multiple privacy risks, including excessive data collection, government surveillance, profiling, model training, and data commodification. While most participants accepted these risks in exchange for perceived utility, abortion-related queries elicited heightened safety concerns. Few participants employed protective strategies beyond minimizing disclosures or deleting data. Based on these findings, we offer design and policy recommendations, such as health-specific features and stronger moderation practices, to enhance privacy and safety in GenAI-supported SRH information seeking.