EFF: Skype scores 0/4 on protecting users from US governments

25 April 2011 by

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EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn says “companies that stand up for users will do better in the long run if people are informed and can include this information in their decision-making about what services to use.”

With no stars, Skype fares poorly in EFF’s race to the top for protecting customer privacy and transparency of their government disclosure practices. Skype is tied for last place with Verizon, MySpace, Comcast and Apple. EFF’s review of privacy policies and legal records showed these companies don’t tell users about data demands, are not transparent about government requests, don’t fight for user privacy in court, and don’t fight for user privacy in Congress. You can tell Skype to improve on these points by signing EFF’s petition.

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About Phil Wolff

Phil Wolff is strategy director of PDEC, the Personal Data Ecosystem Consortium, a Small Data NGO. Wolff is a director of the DataPortability Project and co-author of the project's model Portability Policy. He's had management, technology, and marketing roles at Adecco SA, LSI Logic, Bechtel National, Wang Laboratories, Compaq Computer, the City of Long Beach, the State of California, and the U.S. Navy Supply Systems Command. On LinkedIn, ORCID 0000-0002-7815-4750, Quora top 250 of 2012. He holds the PDQ Bach Inauthentic Identity Fellowship at the University of Southern North Dakota at Hoople. Phil lives in Adams Point, Oakland, California.