Skip to main content

Twitter praised for protecting user data as Apple and Yahoo falter in privacy report

Twitter praised for protecting user data as Apple and Yahoo falter in privacy report

Share this story

Twitter Android 4.0 App Update
Twitter Android 4.0 App Update

Every year, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) releases a report that tests how far the world's biggest technology companies go to protect users from government data demands. In its "Who Has Your Back?" report for 2013, the EFF expanded how it ranks the policies of companies, evaluating firms including Apple, Twitter, Facebook, Microsoft, and Google on six privacy criteria. But how did they fare? Of the 18 companies assessed, only Twitter and US ISP Sonic.net received all six gold stars, with Verizon and Myspace receiving none (like in previous years), while Apple, AT&T and Yahoo scored just one apiece. The EFF says there have been marked improvements in 2013, but calls for location service providers and mobile carriers like AT&T and Verizon to up their game and join others in publishing law enforcement guidelines and regular transparency reports.