Download the complete Who Has Your Back? 2014: Protecting Your Data From Government Requests report as a PDF.
We entrust our most sensitive, private, and important information to technology companies like Google, Facebook, and Verizon. Collectively, these companies are privy to the conversations, photos, social connections, and location data of almost everyone online. The choices these companies make affect the privacy of every one of their users. So which companies stand with their users, embracing transparency around government data requests? Which companies have resisted improper government demands by fighting for user privacy in the courts and on Capitol Hill? In short, which companies have your back?
These questions are even more important in the wake of the past year’s revelations about mass surveillance, which showcase how the United States government has been taking advantage of the rich trove of data we entrust to technology companies to engage in surveillance of millions of innocent people in the US and around the world. Internal NSA documents and public statements by government officials confirm that major telecommunications companies are an integral part of these programs. We are also faced with unanswered questions, conflicting statements, and troubling leaked documents which raise real questions about the government’s ability to access to the information we entrust to social networking sites and webmail providers.
The legal landscape is unsettled. The Electronic Frontier Foundation and other organizations have filed constitutional challenges to mass surveillance programs. Both Congress and President Obama are negotiating legislative reform that could curtail or even end bulk surveillance programs, while other Congressional proposals would instead enshrine them into law. In multiple recent public opinion polls, the American people attest that they believe government surveillance has gone too far.
In the face of unbounded surveillance, users of technology need to know which companies are willing to take a stand for the privacy of their users.
In this fourth-annual report, EFF examines the publicly-available policies of major Internet companies—including Internet service providers, email providers, mobile communications tools, telecommunications companies, cloud storage providers, location-based services, blogging platforms, and social networking sites—to assess whether they publicly commit to standing with users when the government seeks access to user data. The purpose of this report is to allow users to make informed decisions about the companies with whom they do business. It is also designed to incentivize companies to adopt best practices, be transparent about how data flows to the government, and to take a stand for their users’ privacy in Congress and in the courts whenever it is possible to do so.
See earlier Who Has Your Back? reports: 2011, 2012, 2013
Reform Government Surveillance
https://www.reformgovernmentsurveillance.com/
Stopwatching.us
https://optin.stopwatching.us/
Coalition Letter Against Mass Surveillance
https://www.cdt.org/files/pdfs/surveillance-sign-on-final-11-21-13.pdf
Adobe
http://www.adobe.com/legal/compliance/law-enforcement.html
Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/?nodeId=508088
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=footer_privacy?ie=UTF8&nodeId=468496
Apple
https://www.apple.com/legal/more-resources/law-enforcement/
http://images.apple.com/pr/pdf/131105reportongovinforequests3.pdf
https://www.apple.com/legal/more-resources/law-enforcement/
AT&T
http://about.att.com/content/csr/home/frequently-requested-info/governance/transparencyreport/total-u-s--criminal-and-civil-litigation-demands-.html
http://about.att.com/content/csr/home/frequently-requested-info/governance/transparencyreport/partial-or-no-data-provided.html
http://www.att.com/gen/privacy-policy?pid=13692#collect
http://about.att.com/content/csr/home/frequently-requested-info/governance/transparencyreport/total-u-s--criminal-and-civil-litigation-demands-.html
Comcast
http://xfinity.comcast.net/privacy/2012-04/
http://www.comcast.com/Corporate/Customers/Policies/CustomerPrivacy.htmlhttp://corporate.comcast.com/comcast-voices/comcast-issues-first-transparency-report
http://cdn.comcast.com/~/Media/Files/Legal/Law%20Enforcement%20Handbook/Comcast%20Xfinity%202012%20Law%20Enforcement%20Handbook%20v022112.pdf?vs=1
CREDO Mobile
http://www.credomobile.com/misc/guidelines.aspx
http://www.credomobile.com/misc/transparency.aspx
Dropbox
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/77fr4t57t9g8tbo/law_enforcement_handbook.html
https://www.dropbox.com/transparency
https://www.dropbox.com/transparency/principles
https://www.facebook.com/safety/groups/law/guidelines/https://www.facebook.com/about/government_requests
https://www.facebook.com/safety/groups/law/guidelines/
Foursquare
http://support.foursquare.com/attachments/token/i3zateimclhxngy/?name=4sq+Law+Enforcement+Requests.pdf
https://foursquare.com/legal/privacy
https://foursquare.com/legal/terms
http://support.foursquare.com/entries/21508305-Law-Enforcement-Data-Request-Guidelines
https://www.google.com/transparencyreport/userdatarequests/legalprocess/
https://www.google.com/transparencyreport/
http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/userdatarequests/
http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/userdatarequests/US/
http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/removals/government/US/
http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/userdatarequests/legalprocess/#what_kinds_of_data
Internet Archive
http://archive.org/about/faqs.php#Law_Enforcement_Requests
http://archive.org/about/faqs.php#1007
http://archive.org/about/faqs.php#1006
http://help.linkedin.com/ci/fattach/get/2730181/0/filename/LinkedIn%20Law%20Enforcement%20Guidelines.pdf
https://www.linkedin.com/legal/transparency
Lookout
https://www.lookout.com/le-guide
https://www.lookout.com/legal/privacy-policy
https://www.lookout.com/transparency/report-2013
Microsoft
https://www.microsoft.com/about/corporatecitizenship/en-us/reporting/transparency/
http://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/fullnotice.mspx#EHChttps://www.microsoft.com/about/corporatecitizenship/en-us/reporting/transparency/pppfaqs/
http://pdfserver.amlaw.com/nlj/microsoft-warrant-sdny.pdf
Myspace
https://www.askmyspace.com/t5/Articles/Law-Enforcement-Guidelines/ba-p/38505
https://myspace.com/pages/privacy
https://www.askmyspace.com/t5/Articles/Law-Enforcement-Guidelines/ba-p/38505
http://help.pinterest.com/en/articles/law-enforcement-guidelines
https://help.pinterest.com/en/articles/transparency-report-archive
https://help.pinterest.com/en/articles/transparency-report-archive
Snapchat
http://www.mrcac.org/content/uploads/2013/02/Snapchat_Law_Enforcement_Guide_12112.pdf (leaked)
http://www.snapchat.com/static_files/lawenforcement.pdf
Sonic.net
https://wiki.sonic.net/wiki/Legal_Proccess_Policy
https://wiki.sonic.net/wiki/Legal_Process_Policy#Customer_Notification_Policy
https://corp.sonic.net/ceo/2014/04/28/2013-transparency-report/
SpiderOak
https://spideroak.com/law_enforcement/
https://spideroak.com/privacy_policy
https://spideroak.com/law_enforcement/
https://blog.spideroak.com/20130404171036-increasing-transparency-alongside-privacy-2013-report
Tumblr
http://www.tumblr.com/docs/en/law_enforcement
http://transparency.tumblr.com/
http://support.twitter.com/articles/41949-guidelines-for-law-enforcement
https://support.twitter.com/groups/33-report-a-violation/topics/148-policy-information/articles/41949-guidelines-for-law-enforcement
https://transparency.twitter.com/
Verizon
http://transparency.verizon.com/us-data
http://www22.verizon.com/about/privacy/policy/
http://transparency.verizon.com/us-data
http://transparency.verizon.com/us-data/national-security
http://publicpolicy.verizon.com/blog/entry/verizon-supports-the-bipartisan-usa-freedom-act
Wikimedia
http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Requests_for_user_information_procedures_%26_guidelines
http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Requests_for_user_information_procedures_%26_guidelines#Notifying_Our_Users_of_Your_Request
http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Requests_for_user_information_procedures_%26_guidelines#Notifying_Our_Users_of_Your_Request
http://blog.wikimedia.org/2014/05/09/opposing-mass-surveillance-on-the-internet/
Wickr
https://www.mywickr.com/en/privacypolicy.php
https://www.mywickr.com/en/downloads/Wickr-Transparency-Report-5.9.2014.pdf
https://www.mywickr.com/en/downloads/Law-Enforcement-Guidelines_5.12.14.pdf
WordPress
http://transparency.automattic.com/legal-guidelines/
http://en.support.WordPress.com/disputes/legal-guidelines/
http://transparency.automattic.com
http://transparency.automattic.com/legal-guidelines/
Yahoo
http://info.yahoo.com/transparency-report/us/law-enforcement-guidelines/
https://transparency.yahoo.com/law-enforcement-guidelines/us/index.htmlhttp://info.yahoo.com/privacy/us/yahoo/details.html http://info.yahoo.com/legal/us/yahoo/utos/utos-173.html
http://info.yahoo.com/transparency-report/