Online privacy has become a hot debate ever since the explosive growth of social media. Millions are flocking to online social networks every month and this has made the security of their data across these network a critical data. Companies have tried to guard this data and pacify the users with their privacy policies but it remains unclear how effective they are.
Now, Electronic Frontier Foundation has issued a new report which goes on to show how companies try to guard the security of user’s data and that how good different companies do on this frontier.
The privacy of user data has to be ensured on multiple front. But in this report, EFF considers the privacy to be the security of data in circumstances where, for instance, government agencies come asking for it.
As a result of the research that went into the report, EFF is of the opinion that all of these companies strive really hard to ensure the security of the user’s data and to enable him to guard his data as much as possible. The senior staff attorney at EFF, Marcia Hofman stated, “Online service providers are the guardians of some of your most intimate data–everything from your messages, to location information, to the identities of your family and friends. We wanted to acknowledge companies that are adopting best practices and taking exceptional steps to defend their users against government overreaches in the courts and in Congress.”
The company which stood out and topped the list in its efforts to guard user data is Sonic.net, which is a telephony and internet provider. Sonic.net was able to score the highest score, four stars, according to EFF. Each of these stars accounted for one criteria which included ‘Tell users about data demands’ , ‘Be transparent about government requests’ , ‘Fight for users privacy in the courts’ and finally ‘Fight for user privacy in Congress.’
In the second place was the popular micro-blogging platform, Twitter, with three and a half stars. Interestingly, some major tech giants such as Microsoft, Apple and Yahoo received only one star while some other tech giants including Verizon, Skype and Myspace didn’t get any star at all.
Source: EFF
Courtesy: Huff Post
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