V0LT

V0LT produces free and open source software, services, and other digital content.

9.9/10

How we calculate ratings →

Handling

Does the policy allow personally-targeted or behavioral marketing? No

10/10

Does the service allow you to permanently delete your personal data? Yes, using an automated mechanism

5/5

Does the service allow third-party access to private personal data? No

10/10

This may come in the form of outright data sharing or by using local third-party analytics software (such as Google Analytics, which collects a plethora of user information).

Note that whether the policy allows sharing aggregated user data does not affect this question.

If the personal data is encrypted when it passes through the third-party, it does not count as third-party access (as the data is inaccessible to that party).

If personal data has been made public by, for example, posting it to a blog, it does not count as private personal information (and is therefore not considered by this question).

Score

Yes

The policy allows sharing personal data with third parties (not just critical service providers), and does not explicitly list the third parties.

Yes, all parties specified (including non-critical service providers such as advertisers)

30%

Yes, not all parties specified (but only to critical service providers)

70%

Yes, all parties specified (only to critical service providers)

80%

100%

Citation

V0LT never uses closed-source third party services by default. While I do use third party tools to develop and produce content, I only ever use open source software that I can verify isn't putting any back-doors or tracking software into V0LT content.

When does the policy allow law enforcement access to personal data? Only when required by a court order or subpoena

4/5

Score

Always

This includes cases in which law enforcement either runs the service or has a known backdoor into (or relationship with) the service.

Not specified

When reasonably requested

60%

Only when required by a court order or subpoena

80%

N/A (no personal data to share)

The service would have no personal data to share with law enforcement.

100%

Never (special legal jurisdiction)

The service operates in a jurisdiction in which sharing data with law enforcement is never required.

100%

Citation

"When it's shared: Never, unless subpoenaed."

Notes

This quote is associated with multiple forms of personal information.

Transparency

Does the policy outline the service's general security practices? Yes, including independent audits

3/3

Score

Somewhat

The policy provides only a very vague overview of its security practices.

30%

Yes

60%

Yes, including audits

"Reviews," "monitoring," etc. also count as audits.

80%

Yes, including independent audits

Independent "reviews," "monitoring," etc. also count as independent audits.

100%

N/A

The service doesn't collect any personal information.

100%

Citation

I study in the cybersecurity field, and often interact with security-focused professors and peers. I regularly allow people to run penetration tests on the V0LT website.

Is the policy's history made available? Yes, with revisions or a changelog

5/5

Does the policy require users to be notified in case of a data breach? N/A

7/7

Will affected users be notified when the policy is meaningfully changed? N/A

5/5

Collection

Does the service collect personal data from third parties? No

10/10

Is it clear why the service collects the personal data that it does? Yes

10/10

Does the service allow the user to control whether personal data is collected or used for non-critical purposes? N/A (no data used for non-critical purposes)

10/10

Does the policy list the personal data it collects? Yes, exhaustively

10/10

Score

The policy does not claim to not collect personal data, but it also doesn't provide any meaningful insight into the types of personal data it collects.

Only summarily

The policy uses overly vague language to provide a summary of the types of collected personal data.

30%

Yes, generally

All general categories of collected personal data are listed, though not all types of personal data are explicitly mentioned (for example, the list might use a phrase like 'such as' when listing types of personal data).

70%

Yes, exhaustively

All types of collected personal data are listed specifically

100%

N/A (no personal data is collected)

100%

Citation

"V0LT collects very little information about you, but there are still certain things that must be collected in order to run the website, and specific services that you may choose to use. This graphic explains what information is collected and how it is handled."

Notes

The explanation of how each piece information is collected is fairly long, but can viewed at the policy link under "Information Collected Summary"

Last Updated

October 24, 2022

Sources

Source #1 ↗

Contributors

connervieira, doamatto