Apple, Verizon, Amazon Score Low Marks on User Data Protection

by Nathan Eddy

Google has published figures regarding National Security Letters, secretive government demands for user information that are typically accompanied by gag orders.

More companies are also fighting for user privacy on Capitol Hill as part of the Digital Due Process Coalition, including Foursquare.

Comcast has significantly improved its practices and policies concerning government access to user data, according to the report.

While many companies have made strides in the past couple of years, there’s plenty of room for improvement at Facebook, which has yet to publish a transparency report.

Microsoft has helped advance the public’s understanding of government power by publishing general information about the numbers of National Security Letters it has been issued.

The iPhone manufacturer received just one star out of six for fighting for users’ privacy rights in Congress.

erizon was one of two companies that failed to receive any stars for their data-protection policies—the once-mighty MySpace also received no stars.

Microblogging site Twitter was deemed very helpful at protecting user data from the government, receiving stars in every category.

The cloud-based file-sharing site Dropbox also received high marks, getting stars in every category, except fighting for users’ privacy rights in the courts.

Amazon received just two stars, and the company does not publish transparency reports or tell users about government data requests.