9 major mistakes that companies need to fix immediately

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a California-based digital rights organization, has launched an initiative called “Fix It Already,” which highlights 9 major privacy and security flaws that tech companies need to fix immediately. The 9 issues are found across a variety of technology platforms, including social media, operating systems, enterprise platforms, and more.

As the EFF describes, some of these bugs exist due to poor decisions by companies, while others are security flaws that could compromise user privacy and data.

Here are the 9 issues that need to be fixed immediately.

1. Android users to deny and revoke app permissions. Many people don't want to share their data with app creators.
2. Apple should allow users to encrypt their iCloud backups. iCloud is an important part of Apple's system and many people use it. Apple can access your data at any time, and the EFF is calling on the iPhone maker to develop encryption for it.
3. Facebook should stop sharing your phone number with advertisers when you set it up for 2FA or notifications. This could help the company improve its already bad image.
4. Slack should stop retaining workspace messages and give account holders full access to their messages. Even when an account holder decides to leave Slack, their messages are still retained on the company's platform indefinitely.
5. Twitter should deploy end-to-end encryption on direct messages. Right now Twitter can read our DMs .
6. Venmo, the PayPal-owned payment service, should allow users to make their friends list private. This is a major security flaw that Venmo needs to fix as soon as possible.
7. Verizon should provide an option to disable or delete the AppFlash app that comes pre-installed on its phones. The app is spyware that shares details of the apps you install on your smartphone with Verizon's partners.
8. WhatsApp should add a feature that allows you to reject annoying group invitations. Currently, you can block a group or leave a group, but what if you don't want to be a part of that group in the first place?
9. Microsoft should allow Windows 10 users to keep their disk encryption keys to themselves. This is a flaw in Microsoft's encryption mechanism. The company should provide such an option for users who do not want to share their encryption key with Microsoft.

EFF has asked users for their opinions and asked them if they have encountered any of the issues they include in their “Fix It Already” campaign.