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  1. Index categories
  2. Company types
  3. What the index evaluates
  4. Evaluation and scoring
  1. 1.1 How to read this report
  2. 1.2 Explore the data and details
  3. 1.3 Beyond the RDR Index
  4. 1.4 Beyond 2019
  1. 2.1 Internet and mobile ecosystem highlights
  2. 2.2 Telecommunications company highlights
  3. 2.3 Notable changes
  1. 3.1 Global Network Initiative members lead the pack
  2. 3.2 Governance gap: Expression and privacy
  3. 3.3 Due diligence
  4. 3.4 Grievance and remedy
  5. 3.5 Government policy and regulatory trends
  6. 3.6 Recommendations for companies
  7. 3.7 Recommendations for governments
  1. 4.1 Transparency remains inadequate
  2. 4.2 Terms of service and enforcement
  3. 4.3 External demands to restrict content or accounts
  4. 4.4 Network management and shutdowns
  5. 4.5 Regulatory developments and challenges
  6. 4.6 Recommendations for companies
  7. 4.7 Recommendations for governments
  1. 5.1 Transparency remains inadequate
  2. 5.2 Handling of user information
  3. 5.3 Privacy gaps: collection and sharing
  4. 5.4 Government demands
  5. 5.5 Security trends
  6. 5.6 Regulatory trends and gaps
  7. 5.7 Recommendations for companies
  8. 5.8 Recommendations for governments
  1. 7.1 RDR Index methodology development
  2. 7.2 Company selection
  3. 7.3 Selection of services
  4. 7.4 Levels of disclosure
  5. 7.5 Research process and steps
  6. 7.6 Company engagement
  7. 7.7 Scoring
  8. 7.8 For further information

Acknowledgments

Ranking Digital Rights staff:

  • Rebecca MacKinnon, Director
  • Amy Brouillette, Research Director
  • Lisa Gutermuth, Senior Program Manager
  • Laura Reed, Research and Engagement Manager
  • Nathalie Maréchal, Senior Research Analyst
  • Veszna Wessenauer, Research Analyst
  • Afef Abrougui, Corporate Accountability Editor
  • Sam Cabral, Communications Associate
  • Ilja Sperling, Student Worker
  • Zak Rogoff, Research Fellow
  • Eeva Moore, Editor and Publications Coordinator

We wish to thank all stakeholders who provided key feedback on the 2019 RDR Index methodology. We also wish to thank those who offered key feedback about this report and the findings: Joan Barata, Melissa Brown, Sharon Bradford Franklin, Bennett Freeman, Djordje Krivokapic, Emma Llansó, Deirdre K. Mulligan, Courtney Radsch.

Contributing researchers: Shazeda Ahmed, Ope Akanbi, Mariam Al Shafie, Mariia Altergot, Grant Baker, Joan Barata, Alex Comninos, David Martín Espitia, Luis Fernando García, Krzysztof Garstka, Kirsten Gollatz, Elonnai Hickok, Jockum Hildén, Maria Fonneløp Inderberg, Abed Kataya, Kelly Kim, Priya Kumar, Cannelle Lavite, Tanya Lokot, Kirill Miazine, Outi Puukko, Kjetil Wick Sætre, Mingli Shi, Jiwon Son, Florian Wittner, Hu Yong, Benjamin Zhou.

Graphics: Olivia Solis, SHARE Lab

About Ranking Digital Rights

Ranking Digital Rights is a non-profit research initiative housed at the New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute. We work to promote freedom of expression and privacy on the internet by creating global standards and incentives for companies to respect and protect users’ rights. We do this by ranking the world’s most powerful internet, mobile ecosystem, and telecommunications companies on relevant commitments and policies, based on international human rights standards. We work with companies as well as advocates, researchers, investors, and policymakers to establish and advance global standards for corporate accountability. For more about our vision, impact, and strategy see: rankingdigitalrights.org/about/

For more about Ranking Digital Rights and the RDR Corporate Accountability Index, please visit www.rankingdigitalrights.org.

For more about New America, please visit www.newamerica.org.

For more about the Open Technology Institute, please visit www.newamerica.org/oti.

Funders

The 2019 Corporate Accountability Index was supported by the following funders: John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation • Ford Foundation • Mozilla Foundation • Open Society Foundations • U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. For a full list of current and former project funders and partners, please see: rankingdigitalrights.org/who/partners.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, please visit creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0.

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