Privacy report - Google takes heat for Apple, Yahoo and others

The Google-focussed media frenzy following the release of a privacy report by Privacy International saying that Google is “leading a race to the bottom” must have Apple, Yahoo and the other companies analysed breathing a huge sigh of relief!

ZDNet, Australian IT, The Sydney Morning Herald and countless others have published stories about Google’s placement in the worst of six categories (and Google has refuted many of the claims, as expected). Which is understandable – the label “hostile to privacy” makes for a great headline.

But what about the other companies analysed? What about the organisations described as having “substantial and comprehensive privacy threats”?

Here are just some of the things that Privacy International states in their report about the organisations that were placed into the next category up from Google:

Apple “sought to disclose the names of sources to bloggers’s stories”
Facebook “uses data from ‘other sources’, and has not maintained strong security mechanisms”
Hi5: “Clicking on Privacy Policy opens up a pop-up window advertisement!”
Reunion.com “shares information with other sites”
Windows Live Space: “IP addresses are stored and can be seen by server administrators and advanced users”
Yahoo “Cooperates with governments with disclosure of information, including Chinese government”.

I think we’ve got more to worry about than just Google!

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