In an era where trust and transparency are crucial, we’ve taken a step forward by introducing quarterly transparency reports, reaffirming our commitment to user privacy and data security. Let’s get into the details!
What is a transparency report?
In a transparency report, a company reveals the number of requests it receives from government and law enforcement agencies regarding its services. The company also details its actions in response to these requests and its approach to responding to them.
The main goal of these reports is to enhance user trust by showcasing the company’s commitment to transparency, accountability, and privacy protection, informing users about their data handling practices, and promoting industry best practices. The report’s key components might include the following information:
- The number of requests for user data;
- Company’s response to requests;
- Details about content removal requests;
- Data protection policies;
- Security measures;
- Legal compliance efforts;
- And more.
For IT and software companies like Surfshark, this typically includes disclosures about government data requests, censorship actions, security breaches, and other relevant activities.
Surfshark releases its first transparency report
We understand and welcome the growing need for transparency within the sector, such as the Digital Services Act (DSA). As a cybersecurity company, we feel it’s our duty to meet the highest standards, and transparency is one of them. In addition to the Warrant Canary, which was always present on our website, we’re also presenting our Transparency Report (under the Transparency category), which specifies the type and number of requests received. We will update these numbers accordingly every quarter.
This is a significant milestone for Surfshark, which is in line with our strategy and commitment to building trust and aligning with industry best practices. Through this transparency report, we strive to enhance credibility for our current and potential users, setting a standard for how a trustworthy cybersecurity company should operate. It also reaffirms that we adhere to our no-logs policy, meaning we have no information to disclose about our users.
– Gytis Malinauskas, Surfshark’s Head of Legal
What’s next?
According to our no-logs statement, which was confirmed by Deloitte’s assurance report and strengthened by our use of RAM-only servers, we don’t collect any information about what you do online (like IP addresses, browsing history, or network traffic), ensuring we have no such information to disclose upon request. We aim to build trust with our users, proving our dedication to protecting their privacy.
From now on, Surfshark commits to regularly publishing transparency reports to communicate about legal and government requests and requests received in accordance with DSA, highlighting our dedication to user privacy.
