The Washington Post published a survey on the personal data of consumers. The document reveals which brands they trust the most to manage this data. The top three are Apple, Amazon and Google. But Apple is not in the lead. It is preceded by the two other American firms. Facebook and TikTok come last in the rankings.
Every time you go online, you reveal a little about yourself. And this even if you don’t want to. Indeed, your visit to a website leaves traces. Your IP address which locates you geographically. The identity and version of the browser you are using. Your operating system. The active language pack. The resolution of your screen. Etc. And thanks to cookies, some services can even know what you are buying, what interests you and which stores you frequent.
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And we are not talking about the sites to which you deliver personal data where you have created an account there. Sites managed by Google, Facebook or even Amazon. Because the respect of private life and the management of personal data are extremely complex subjects which do not always mix well with the company’s income, we are faced with certain abuses such as repeated data leaks at Facebook, for example.
Internet users trust Google and Amazon more than Apple
No large business is immune to the loss of personal information from its consumers. So who can you trust? This is a question that the Washington post asked a thousand American consumers in November 2021. The survey revealed two trends. The first: Internet users do not overwhelmingly trust any large web company.
Not even Apple, whose security of personal data is however one of the battle horses facing the competition under Android and Windows. The Cupertino company attracts 44% trust and 40% distrust (the lowest score). Apple is not the brand that attracts the most confidence: it is Amazon which is in the lead with 53% (and 40% mistrust, like Apple), google tracking with 48% confidence (and 47% mistrust). Behind Apple, Microsoft comes fourth with 42% mistrust and 43% confidence.
It’s a pretty amazing ranking. Notably because it has been shown that Amazon’s customer data is widely accessible by employees of the merchant site. Google, for its part, is often singled out for its amazing privacy management, such as collecting browsing data in private mode in Chrome. However, the Pegasus spyware affair has certainly tarnished Apple’s image of the white knight of privacy.
Facebook attracts most user mistrust with TikTok
Second trend: some of them overwhelmingly attract user mistrust. This is particularly the case with Facebook: 72% mistrust, the highest score, and 20% confidence. TikTok follows closely with 63% mistrust and only 12% confidence. This is the lowest trust score. Instagram and WhatsApp are doing slightly better. As for YouTube, the platform is located in the middle of the rankings.
The same survey reveals other Internet users’ concerns about their privacy. 7 in 10 people think that electronic products listen to them without their knowledge and that companies collect certain personal information without justification. 8 in 10 people feel that targeted advertising bothers them and 6 say it is unnecessary. Finally, the majority of respondents want governments to better regulate the management of personal data and respect for privacy.
Source: The Washington Post