Apple drew attention to its privacy-friendly practices when it refused to comply with a warrant demanding that it access data on a customer’s cell phone. In 2015, Apple received a court order to provide data from an iPhone based on the two-hundred-year-old “All Writs Act.” Rather than complying, Apple challenged the order in court. Apple’s action earned it—and its new encrypted-by-default iPhones—widespread media attention.

Amazon was praised for its commitment to protecting the privacy of users in 2010 after refusing a demand to turn over records detailing more than 50 million purchases of North Carolina residents to that state’s Department of Revenue. To protect its customers and their ability to “purchase sensitive or unpopular material,” the company filed suit against the state agency with the support of the ACLU. After a judge ruled against North Carolina, the state ultimately agreed not to demand the titles or other identifying information about books, movies, and similar material. As a result, Amazon was applauded for defending “the free speech and privacy rights of Amazon.com customers.”

Tech companies including Facebook, Apple, Google, and Microsoft won acclaim when they revised their policies to consistently notify users about government demands for their data. The changes were described as proudly “defiant” after the revelations of NSA, drawing praise from media and privacy advocates alike.

Facebook was hailed by the media after it “vehemently” opposed a set of warrants from the New York District Attorney’s Office demanding information on 381 users, arguing that the warrants were overbroad. Although Facebook ultimately lost its legal battle to prevent disclosure, it was able to persuade the District Attorney to unseal the case, permitting Facebook to notify the affected users. As a result of its efforts, Facebook was applauded for taking a strong stance for user privacy as other companies “rall[ied] behind” the company’s stance on the issue.

Numerous companies, including Apple, Dropbox, Facebook, and Reddit have been applauded for issuing regular transparency reports in the wake of the disclosure of information about NSA spying by Edward Snowden. These reports detail how often the company received and responded to government requests for its users’ data. Press described the trend toward issuing such reports as so overwhelming as to become “commonplace for Internet companies,” while privacy advocates called the information “invaluable.”

Technology companies including Facebook, Twitter, Dropbox, and Google were praised for supporting the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act. The law, which was successfully enacted and went into effect in January 2016, requires California law enforcement to get a warrant to gain access to electronic information, including email and text messages, online documents, sensitive metadata, and location information. Press warmly applauded the companies for “taking note of customers’ privacy concerns” in uniting behind the effort.