Which company has the worst online privacy policy? | Media Pyro

We hear a lot about privacy issues with various online applications and services. But these problems start from the moment of registration and, most likely, ignoring the privacy policy. Because if you read them, you would probably run away screaming from your phone or computer.

But no one does this. The convenience, entertainment, and communication we get from all the things we subscribe to outweigh most other considerations. And even if you read every privacy policy you come across, you’re probably just drunk with confusion. That’s because, as the folks at VPNoverview rated(Opens in a new window), the privacy policies of 50 leading tech brands are written at a level most people cannot understand. And in some cases, they take so long to read that you need a day off to read them.

Below you can see what VPNoverreview has determined about the privacy policy, including overall readability (the lower the score, the harder it is to read) and the total time required to read. This table covers only the worst offenders. (Find a fully interactive chart and also go to the data list at VPNoverview(Opens in a new window).)

Of course, even that chart is difficult to understand, so the infographic below breaks down the 20 privacy policies it found to be the worst, including Disney+, Instagram and betting app Coral.

Among the crimes found: Coral says it will keep your data for seven years, even if you close your account. Instagram is happy to share your entire search and location history with third parties. And Disney doesn’t just share data, it also has a privacy policy that’s impossible to parse in the tech world, even if it’s brief. (Actually, the shortest policy is from Wayfair, 2.2 minutes to read; the longest is from online marketplace Vinted, a staggering 138 minutes.)

Other providers in the top 20 worst privacy policies include well-known companies such as Zoom, Wikipedia, Uber Eats, Netflix, Microsoft, Slack, Spotify, Nintendo and Yahoo.

The full report says people should familiarize themselves with the privacy policy and provides advice on how to do so. At the very least, you should read the list of “worst privacy policy terms to watch out for.” For example, if the policy mentions “government access to user data,” you can bet the feds have all your information, and that can be pretty far-reaching if your country is part of an exchange agreement with other countries(Opens in a new window). And any policy that says a service has access to your IP address probably means it knows exactly where you are. Collecting your biometrics? This is a no-no, which many programs do anyway. The list can be continued.

No one really expects any provider to change their privacy policies for the benefit of users, but one thing that services can and should do is improve the clarity of their written policies. Although policies are legal documents, they don’t have to be too long and overwritten in legalese to work.

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