The Electronic Frontier Foundation has released its seventh EFF’s seventh annual “Who Has Your Back” report, which digs into the ways many technology companies are getting the message about user privacy in this era of unprecedented digital surveillance. Apple received four out of a possible five stars, but that’s down one star from the 2016 report.
This is Apple’s sixth year in Who Has Your Back, and it has adopted a number of industry best practices, including publishing a transparency report, requiring a warrant for content, and publishing its guidelines for law enforcement requests, notes the EFF. Apple promises to inform users before disclosing their data to the government, has a published policy of requesting judicial review of all National Security Letters, and explicitly states that third parties are forbidden from allowing Apple user data to be used for surveillance purposes.
For all requests from government and law enforcement agencies within the United States for content, with the exception of emergency circumstances (defined in the Electronic Communications Privacy Act 1986, as amended), Apple will only provide content in response to a search warrant issued upon a showing of probable cause. The company promises to provide advance notice to users about government data demands, including delayed notice after a gag order expires.
Apple prohibits third parties from allowing its user data to be used for surveillance purposes. In its government information requests page. However, the EFF dings the company for not publicly calling for reforms to Section 702 to curtail the surveillance of innocent people.
