These are the companies that take protecting your data seriously

With the government always asking tech companies to hand over user data, it’s important to know which companies take your privacy seriously and which ones don’t. The Electronic Frontier Foundation makes this easy with its annual report on the subject, and people who use Apple or Yahoo products often will be pleased to know that the two companies topped the list as the most protective and transparent when handling user data. WhatsApp, on the other hand, was rated as the worst. 

Each year, the Electronic Frontier Foundation updates its report on how protective and transparent major tech companies are when it comes to governments snooping on user data. In 2015, 24 companies were rated against five criteria, including whether they demand a government warrant for handing over content, whether they publish transparency reports, and whether they tell users about government data requests. The results have shifted over the years, and many of the companies are more protective of data right now than they ever have been. There do remain some holes, however. The worst of the bunch is apparently WhatsApp, which according to the report only meets one of the ‘best practice’ standards – despite being owned by Facebook. It was also given a full year to prepare for the survey. For example, WhatsApp does not promise to offer advance notice to users about data demands, nor does it publicly require a warrant before giving information to authorities. We’ve contacted WhatsApp for a response.