Big tech doesn’t care about your digital rights, says report
Wed 30 Aug 2023
Big tech companies talk a big game about privacy, digital rights and freedom of expression, but their policies and practices often undermine it, says a new report by Atlas VPN.
According to the data, X (formerly Twitter) scored the best on its policies and practices affecting people’s rights to freedom of expression and privacy.
Meanwhile, Amazon and Tencent got the worst ratings for their actions on people’s digital rights. However, none of the companies earned a passing grade.
“Big tech’s relentless data collection and algorithms working without oversight threaten privacy and freedom of expression. Individuals should educate themselves, minimise data sharing, and use privacy tools to take more control of their digital rights in their own hands,” said Vilius Kardelis, cybersecurity writer at Atlas VPN.
X received the best score of 56% on practices and policies they have on governance, freedom of expression, and privacy. The company took the top spot for its detailed content policies and public data about moderation of user-generated content.
Yahoo got 54% on the digital rights scorecard. Microsoft received 50% on its practices and policies around digital rights, yet it lacked comprehensive policies protecting freedom of expression.
Google scored 47%, but its score declined for the second straight year due to outdated policies. Meta got 46% despite releasing a new human rights policy. Apple, which often boasts about its privacy commitments, scored 44%.
Amazon and Tencent rounded out the list with a score of 25% due to significant shortcomings in policies and practices affecting digital rights.
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