The Mozilla Foundation on Wednesday announced its first Annual Consumer Creep-O-Meter score, aimed at quantifying the state of digital privacy in 2023. Unfortunately, things do not look so good, with 2023 scoring 75.6/100 — or a “Very Creepy” rating.
To arrive at this Creep-O-Meter score, Mozilla researchers assessed the privacy policies and data collection practices of popular digital products and services. Mozilla then compared the latest data, from late 2022 to 2023, with data from the last five years to assign a score. The higher the score, the worse the state of digital privacy.
Since 2017, the Foundation has published 15 editions of its *Privacy Not Included consumer tech buyers guide.
“We’ve reviewed over 500 gadgets, apps, cars, and more, assessing their security features, what data they collect, and who they share that data with,” Mozilla stated.
“In 2023, we compared our most recent findings with those of the past five years. It quickly became clear that products and companies are collecting more personal data than ever before — and then using that information in shady ways,” it added.
Companies Collect and Share More Data Than Ever
While most products now meet minimum security requirements like providing encryption and automatic software updates, there has been a spike in data collection and sharing, Mozilla said.
According to the Foundation, “companies are collecting and sharing users’ personal data like never before. And that’s bad news. Many companies now view their hardware or software as a means to an end: collecting that coveted personal data for targeted advertising and training AI.”
Additionally, a growing number of products and services now require the Internet to work. This means that users can no longer stop data collection or tracking by disconnecting a device from the web. Furthermore, the Foundation echoed a widely held disgruntlement towards privacy policies.
“Legalese, ambiguity, and policies that sprawl across multiple documents and URLs are the status quo. And it’s getting worse, not better. Companies use these policies as a shield, not an actual resource for consumers,” it stated.
Researchers at VPNOverview put together this list of the most difficult-to-read privacy policies.
BetterHelp, Amazon Echo Studio Among Worst Offenders
Among the 172 products that the Foundation looked into (in 2023 and late 2022), five stood out as the big “losers.” They include the popular online mental health service platform BetterHelp and the Amazon Echo Studio smart speaker.
The Verizon Gizmo Watch and the Huawei Watch Kids 4 Pro — both smartwatches designed for children — also made the list with Japanese car manufacturer Nissan. The Foundation did not hold back in its criticism of Nissan’s privacy policy.
“Believe us when we say this: Nissan’s privacy policy is probably the most mind boggling creepy, scary, sad, messed up privacy policy we have ever read. And we here at *Privacy Not Included read a LOT of privacy policies. Please people, if you care even a little about privacy, please stay as far away from Nissan’s cars, apps, and connected services as you possibly can,” the Foundation stated.
According to Mozilla, Nissan’s privacy policy claims it can collect and share users’ sensitive personal information, including their sexual activity, health diagnosis data, and genetic information, for targeted marketing. That is only the tip of the iceberg. We recommend checking out Mozilla’s full verdict on Nissan’s privacy policies.
All the car manufacturers that the Foundation reviewed failed to meet its standards for privacy and security.
On a positive note, Mozilla highlighted five “winners” that satisfied the researchers’ stringent privacy and security requirements: Signal, Sonos SL Speakers, Touchkin Wysa, Pocktbook ebook reader, and Garmin Fenix.
Best Practices to Stay Safe Online
Disturbingly, over 40% of the mental health apps Mozilla reviewed have gotten worse in the privacy and security department since 2022. Mozilla also said reviewing the privacy documents for the Meta Quest Pro VR headset was a near-five hour affair.
The Foundation recommends enabling every available security feature to keep you protected on your devices. This includes using unique, strong passwords and turning on two-factor authentication.
Mozilla also recommends looking through your app or device’s settings to turn off any excessive permissions.
Mozilla urged consumers to communicate their dissatisfaction with services through their actions and wallets.
“If you’re not comfortable with a product’s privacy, don’t buy it. And, speak up. Over the years, we’ve seen companies respond to consumer demand for privacy, like when Apple reformed app tracking and Zoom made end-to-end encryption a free feature,” it said.
