Privacy in the digital age means a lot of things to a lot of people. From social networks to government surveillance, people always seem to be concerned.
But let's not kid ourselves. Complaining about privacy has become nothing but a way to express the "geek side" or an additional item to the black geek glasses to complete the "geeky look" . For all the complaining, no one is going to do much about it. Hence the sense of what is private shrinks.
However, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has posted its annual report (Who has your back?) on which Internet vendors do the most to help protect their users' private information.
The most privacy-oriented companies should comply with these policies:
2013 Results
Although these results might not comply with your expectations, you must keep in mind that the report is about the government access to user's data.
"We’re happy to report that several of the companies included in last year’s report have significantly improved their practices and policies concerning government access to user data"
"Readers of this year’s annual privacy and transparency report should be heartened, as we are,by the improvements major online service providers made over the last year."
In the end, EFF thinks that things are getting better among these vendors that deal with so much user data, and it seems that they're really happy with Twitter's improvement:
"This year two companies received all six possible stars: Sonic.net and Twitter. We are extremely pleased to recognize the outstanding commitment each of these companies has made to public transparency around government access to user data."
and a bit disappointed with Google's latest statement:
To read the full EFF annual report: https://www.eff.org/sites/default/files/filenode/who-has-your-back-2013-report.pdf
But let's not kid ourselves. Complaining about privacy has become nothing but a way to express the "geek side" or an additional item to the black geek glasses to complete the "geeky look" . For all the complaining, no one is going to do much about it. Hence the sense of what is private shrinks.
However, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has posted its annual report (Who has your back?) on which Internet vendors do the most to help protect their users' private information.
The most privacy-oriented companies should comply with these policies:
- Requiring a Warrant for Content
- Telling Users About Government Data Requests
- Publishing Transparency Reports
- Publishing Law Enforcement Guidelines
- Fighting for Users’ Privacy in Court
- Fighting for Users’ Privacy in Congress
2013 Results
Although these results might not comply with your expectations, you must keep in mind that the report is about the government access to user's data.
"We’re happy to report that several of the companies included in last year’s report have significantly improved their practices and policies concerning government access to user data"
"Readers of this year’s annual privacy and transparency report should be heartened, as we are,by the improvements major online service providers made over the last year."
In the end, EFF thinks that things are getting better among these vendors that deal with so much user data, and it seems that they're really happy with Twitter's improvement:
"This year two companies received all six possible stars: Sonic.net and Twitter. We are extremely pleased to recognize the outstanding commitment each of these companies has made to public transparency around government access to user data."
and a bit disappointed with Google's latest statement:
"We notify users about legal demands when appropriate, unless prohibited by law or court order."
To read the full EFF annual report: https://www.eff.org/sites/default/files/filenode/who-has-your-back-2013-report.pdf
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