The latest Electronic Frontier Foundation report on how tech companies handle government data requests has given Apple four out of a possible five stars. The company previously earned five stars before the EFF added a new requirement to this year’s scorecard.

The report highlights the importance of automatically requesting a judicial review of all National Security Letters. These require companies to hand over data without being able to reveal that they have done so. The EFF quotes from Apple’s information requests page.

The one star denied to the company is for what the EFF calls a ‘pro-user public policy. By this, it means supporting the reform of Section 702, the law that allows the NSA to conduct mass surveillance of American Citizens.

Only eight companies were awarded five stars, among them Adobe, Dropbox and WordPress. The decision to dock companies one star for failing to publicly call for repeal or reform Section 702 despite complying with all best-practice recommendations is likely to prove a controversial one. Is it unfair, or is it reasonable to expect companies like Apple to make their voice heard? 

The EFF strongly supported Apple’s stand against the FBI in the San Bernardino shooting case.

Source: 9to5mac