The 2017 Index ranks 22 telecommunications, and internet, and mobile companies on their public commitments and disclosed policies affecting users’ freedom of expression and privacy. For each company, we selected up to four services to evaluate. For telecommunications companies, we evaluate pre- and post-paid mobile, and in most cases (when offered by the company) fixed-line broadband services. For internet and mobile companies, we evaluate up to four of the following types of service depending on what the company offers: cloud, mail, messaging and VoIP, mobile ecosystems, search engines, and social networking and blog platforms. Scores for each company are based on the average scores for each service, as measured across 35 indicators in three categories, with the exception of most of the Governance indicators which focus on company-wide commitments and disclosures. Read more about the methodology, research process and how we score each company.

To see how each service performed in comparison with those of other companies, click on a service category: