EFF: Apple Gives Governments Your Data Without a Warrant and Without Telling You

Apple does a horrible job of protecting your data from prying governments, according to a new report from the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

The annual report, "Who Has Your Back?," looks at major technology service providers' commitment to users' rights in the face of government data demands. EFF's report examines 18 companies' terms of service, privacy policies, advocacy, and courtroom track records, awarding up to six gold stars for best practices in categories like "require a warrant for content," "tell users about government data demands," and "publish transparency reports."

The report scored Apple just one out of six stars noting that Apple does not require a warrant to provide data to the government, does not tell users about government data requests, does not publish transparency reports, does not publish law enforcement guidelines, and does not fight for users' privacy rights in court.


"Transparency reports have become an industry standard practice among major technology companies since we started issuing this report in 2011," said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Marcia Hofmann. "Through those reports, we've learned more about law enforcement requests for user data. We publish this annual report to encourage companies to let users know how data flows to the government, and to encourage companies to stand up for their users."

This year, two companies - Twitter and Sonic.net - received a full six stars, while Verizon and MySpace earned no stars. Apple and AT&T scored one star for their participation in the Digital Due Process coalition but otherwise do little to protect your privacy.

Take a look at the full report at the link below...

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