Dropbox--flamed this week for revealing that it will hand over your stored files to the feds if requested--is not alone in its willingness to throw users' privacy under the proverbial bus.
Nor is Apple, under the gun today after a revelation by O'Reilly Radar that 3G iPads and iPhones keep track of users' locations in unencrypted files.The Electronic Frontier Foundation recently released its annual Privacy and Protection Report Card, rating the largest online players' performance in four categories:
- Telling users about data demands
- Being transparent about government requests for information
- Fighting for user privacy in the courts
- Advocating for privacy before Congress
EFF asks the provocative question, "When the government comes knocking, who has your back?" The discouraging but unsurprising answer appears to be, "You better have your own," because almost everybody failed.
As ZDNet's Violet Blue said, "They've either got your back in a pinch, or they'll sing like yellow canaries when the chips are down and sacrifice you without a second glance."
How the Big Boys Did
Among the tech firms whose performance on privacy issues can best be described as "not terrible:" Google (two stars plus two half-stars), Amazon (two stars) and Twitter (one star and two half-stars). Google was the only surveyed company to rate something in all four categories, giving it a solid grade... Read more: http://www.pcworld.com/article/225811/whos_screwing_you_over_on_privacy_issues_pretty_much_everybody.html#tk.mod_rel