Latest EFF report rates how companies protect your data from government surveillance

[midian182]

Your personal information is held by a number of different companies, so it’s good to know which ones fight to protect the data in the face of government requests. That’s where the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) comes in. The organization's annual “Who has your back” report reveals the firms that go the extra mile when it comes to protecting their users' privacy.

The companies are ranked in five categories: following industry-wide practices, telling users about government data requests, promising not to sell out users who may be of interest to government organizations, standing up to government gag orders, and fighting for pro-user public policy: Reform 702.

Only nine out of the 26 companies received a star in every category. Adobe, Credo, Dropbox, Lyft, Pinterest, Sonic, Uber, Wickr, and Wordpress all came away with top marks.

Apple, Google, Facebook, and Microsoft all received four stars. The iPhone maker missed out on the pro-user public policy category. It has yet to publicly call for a reform of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) Amendments Act, which allows agencies to target the communications of non-U.S. persons located outside the United States - though in some cases it enables collection of emails and phone calls from U.S. citizens. The three other tech giants, meanwhile, failed the “stands up to NSL gag orders” criteria.

Near the bottom of the rankings sits Amazon and WhatsApp, who both received just two stars – one for best practices and one for supporting section 702's reform. "We were disappointed that two technology companies fell short of other online services: Amazon and WhatsApp," the report states.

The worst performers are the telecoms companies. Verizon, AT&T, and Comcast all managed just one star, and that was for the “follows best practices” category.

"When it comes to adopting policies that prioritize user privacy over facilitating government data demands, the telecom industry for the most part has erred on the side of prioritizing government requests,” the report said.

“But telecommunications companies can do better. For example, Credo Mobile has repeatedly proven that telecom companies can adopt policies that earn credit in every category year after year. Similarly, Sonic, an ISP competitor to AT&T, Comcast, T-Mobile, and Verizon, has now earned credit in every category of EFF's annual report for five years."

You can read the full report on the EFF’s website.

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[Uncle Al]

Now that's a report I'd like seen done on a regular basis!

 

[DelJo63]

Notably absent is Apple (oops, I forgot this a Windows only group :sigh

 

[Hexic]

Notably absent is Apple (oops, I forgot this a Windows only group :sigh

Apple is fourth from the top.

 

[Raoul Duke]

Adobe has top marks and it was public knowledge when they were hacked and info was compromised. Problem is that I found out that my information was 'lost' in that hack from a third party and not from Adobe. That's dropping the ball IMHO.
I also found out that another company had been hacked and my info obtained and I didn't hear about this on the news or from the company. Guess they thought it made them look bad, but now as far as I am concerned they look worse

 

[wiyosaya]

Adobe has top marks and it was public knowledge when they were hacked and info was compromised. Problem is that I found out that my information was 'lost' in that hack from a third party and not from Adobe. That's dropping the ball IMHO.
I also found out that another company had been hacked and my info obtained and I didn't hear about this on the news or from the company. Guess they thought it made them look bad, but now as far as I am concerned they look worse

Adobe passed the buck. I have to wonder what standard the EFF uses. Does it require that a company state when they are passing the buck like this?

One company that I would not be surprised has had many incidents is Amazon. I am not saying that they have, rather, I doubt that they have not had incidents, and, like the company you are referring to, do not report them. In the US, anyway, companies are not required to report incidents.

If Amazon reported it, it would also make them look bad, and they cannot have that can they?

 

[Raoul Duke]

The second offender I didn't name in my first post is Funimation, an anime site. Never heard from them or the news that they were hacked and my info was compromised.