EFF publishes report on how companies handle data requests

Jul 11, 2017 11:25 GMT  ·  By

Tech giants Apple and Microsoft have been rated four out of five stars for the way they handle government data requests and fight for user privacy in a report published by privacy organization Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).

Apple needs to support the pro-user public policy with Reform 702, EFF says, while Microsoft must stand up to NSL gag orders in order to achieve the maximum five-star rating.

Google has also received 4 stars, while the worst rated companies with just one star are AT&T, Comcast, T-Mobile, and Verizon. All follow the industry-wide best practices to defend users against government data requests, but instead they don’t tell users about government requests, they don’t promise not to sell out users, and don’t support Reform 702.

The top-rated companies with 5 out of 5 stars are Credo Mobile, Dropbox, Lyft, Pinterest, Sonic, Uber, Wickr, and Wordpress.com.

Both Apple and Microsoft can improve

In its report, EFF says that Apple has improved the way it handles government requests and when it receives a National Security Letter with an indefinite gag order, the company requests review by a judge, but on the other hand, it hasn’t publicly called for reforms to Section 702 to curtail the surveillance of innocent people, the foundation says.

In the case of Microsoft, the company does not have a public policy of request judicial review of all National Security Letters it receives, but instead it supports a reform to Section 702.

“Microsoft was a signatory on a joint letter sent to the House Judiciary Committee Chairman and published on the Computer & Communications Industry Association website,” EFF explains.

EFF also highlights stats regarding government data requests in the United States last year, saying that Facebook received a total of 49,868 requests, with officials also sending 27,850 requests to Google and 9,076 to Apple.

“These companies are not alone: where users see new ways to communicate and store data, law enforcement agents see new avenues for surveillance,” the report concludes.