Spotify was widely criticized for the difficult-to-decipher language in an update to its privacy policy released in mid-2015. Many users were confused by the policy and believed that Spotify wanted to track users “like a jealous ex.” Spotify’s CEO issued a public apology and rewrote the policy to be clearer, but the public relations damage from the “ridiculous” policy was done.

Lookout, a mobile privacy and security startup, attracted lots of positive attention for building a tool to help mobile apps produce short-form privacy policies. The company decided to build and release the tool after receiving positive feedback for its own mobile-friendly policy. Lookout was lauded for taking “major steps to empower consumers” that “could change the game on mobile app transparency.”

Lenovo was lambasted in the press after security researchers revealed that the PC-maker was selling computers secretly preinstalled with “nefarious” adware that not only collected information about users’ online activity but also made encrypted web sessions vulnerable to attacks. The adware, from a company called Superfish, posed a sufficiently serious threat that the Department of Homeland Security warned Lenovo customers to remove it immediately. Lenovo’s actions not only damaged its reputation, but also exposed it to a class action lawsuit for “compromising user security and privacy.”