A new survey shows that nearly three quarters of Americans aren’t confident in Facebook, and they worry about Facebook’s use of their personal data.
A total of 72 percent of surveyed Americans say they’re wary about how Facebook manages personal data in a poll that also reflects distrust of other social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and WhatsApp – with the latter two also owned by Facebook parent company Meta.
A mere 20% of those surveyed said Facebook is trustworthy. Another 72 percent expressed doubts about the social network giant.
Meanwhile, 70 per cent of Americans said they believed their devices – phones and smart speakers such as Amazon’s Echo – listen in on their conversations, without permission.
While tech firms claim this is not true, many Americans feel uncomfortable discussing certain topics with friends who are close to their devices, and then being offered products or services that relate to the topic next time they log in to Amazon or Facebook.
To gain insight into the attitudes of Americans about targeted advertising, social media and privacy, pollsters surveyed random samples.
In a survey that included distrust for other social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram, 72 percent of Americans surveyed said they are concerned about Facebook’s handling of personal data.
This poll, which was taken on November 22, with the results being released Wednesday afternoon, found 56 percent that Facebook is having a negative effect on society.
70% of Americans think their smartphones and other electronic devices listen to conversations they have not consented to.
Skepticism of Instagram’s trustworthiness was also reflected in the survey, where 60 percent of respondents said they were cautious of the platform.
TikTok did not fare well with 63% of Americans saying that they lack trust in this video-sharing app, which is gaining popularity and has overtaken Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook among younger users.
Amazon was rated the most trustworthy online store, receiving 53 percent trustworthiness ratings. Jeff Bezos also owns The Washington Post.
Respondents trust Google (48%) and Microsoft (43%) more than they do Apple (44%).
According to this poll, companies that sell actual goods, such as Apple, Google, and Amazon, fare better than Facebook and Instagram, which have people unnerved by how their data will be used to gain free access to these sites.
The poll found that Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook was the most trusted social network site among those surveyed.
According to the poll, 56 percent believe that Facebook is having a negative effect on society. It was conducted November 22 and results were released Wednesday. A mere 10% believe Facebook has a positive influence.
Facebook suffered a major blow to its reputation during the Cambridge Analyitica scandal. It was discovered that 84 million Facebook users had been hacked without their consent from 2007 through 2014.
The company was also hit by another whistleblower Frances Haugen, who claimed that Instagram puts profit above morality and knew that Instagram was causing mental harm to young girls, but did not make such disclosures.
Haugen, in October, shared her complaints about Facebook’s disregard for morality. She complained that Facebook failed to protect children and stop misinformation being spread online.
After the scandal broke, Facebook quickly rebranded as Meta.
Moreover, 70% believe that their phone and other electronic gadgets secretly listen to what is being said without their knowledge.
Many smartphone owners have expressed their concerns that their smartphones could listen to conversations in order to gather targeted advertising information.
Pictured are the European headquarters of Facebook and Meta in Dublin.
Facebook was also hit by Frances Haugen, a whistleblower who revealed how Facebook puts profit over morals earlier in the year.
Peleton might appear in the mailboxes of friends who are chatting to them about Peleton.
Targeted ads were also found annoying by 82 percent, invasive by 74 percent, and useful to 27 percent, respectively.
Survey results showed that 73% believe the collection of data by tech companies for purposes of advertising is unjustified. 26% believed it was an acceptable compromise to have free access.