A new survey conducted by The Washington Post reveals that more users trust Amazon and Google to handle their personal user data and internet browsing activity than Apple. The survey also revealed that users overwhelmingly distrust Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram.
The survey asked 1,122 internet users in the U.S. about how much they trust Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube, Google, Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon to “responsibly” handle their user data and browsing activity.
Users were asked whether they trust the companies and platforms “a great deal,” “a good amount,” “not much,” or “not at all,” with users also able to state they had no opinion of a given company.
18% of respondents said they trust Apple “a great deal,” while Google and Amazon scored 14%. But in the “a good amount” category, Amazon took the lead with 39%, Google with 34%, and Apple trailing with 26%. Combining the two positive categories, Apple’s overall net positive score was 44%, lagging behind Google’s 48% and Amazon’s 53%.
40% of those surveyed said they don’t trust Facebook at all to handle their user data. Facebook took the crown for being the least trustworthy out of all those listed. A separate survey revealed that users named Facebook, now known as Meta, as the worst company of 2021.
Apple tied Amazon for the best net negative score at 40%, with Microsoft coming in at 42% and Google at 47%.
82% of respondents said they find targeted online ads annoying, 74% find them invasive, and a mere 27% find them helpful.