Poll Reveals A Huge Majority Of Americans Don’t Trust Big Tech With Their Data
While Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg may be the first major corporate entity to admit it, our world has long been steering toward the creation of a new, digital dimension.
We already do most of our correspondence, banking, and shopping on the world wide web. Our data, acting as our person, enters virtual lobbies to pay bills and send mail. All Mark Zuckerberg wants to do is put a cute little face on it in the most boring, dystopian turn of events of the last several decades.
But there is a danger to dealing within this unseen universe, where trouble is truly invisible, and our every move is worth big money to the advertisers who are looking to cash in on our online behavior.
In real life, you can at least see the mugger coming. Online – not so much.
Most Americans say they are skeptical that several Internet giants will responsibly handle their personal information and data about their online activity. And an overwhelming majority say they think tech companies don’t provide people with enough control over how their activities are tracked and used. The survey was conducted in November among a random sample of 1,122 adults nationwide. Read the full poll results here
The numbers do not lie. People see big tech manipulating their personal data just like they saw ‘Big Brother’ do it in Orwell’s classic 1984.
According to the survey, 72 percent of Internet users trust Facebook “not much” or “not at all” to responsibly handle their personal information and data on their Internet activity. About 6 in 10 distrust TikTok and Instagram, while slight majorities distrust WhatsApp and YouTube. Google, Apple and Microsoft receive mixed marks for trust, while Amazon is slightly positive with 53 percent trusting the company at least “a good amount.” (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)
Only 10 percent say Facebook has a positive impact on society, while 56 percent say it has a negative impact and 33 percent say its impact is neither positive nor negative. Even among those who use Facebook daily, more than three times as many say the social network has a negative rather than a positive impact.
And as for those targeted ads you get from all of the above, but mostly thanks to Facebook, 82% of users think they’re annoying.
Interestingly 64% of respondents believe the government should regulate big tech, but they don’t explain how. As a heavy user of big tech, I, too, want it regulated. But as someone who believes in conservative principles, I can’t figure out a way to do without government over-regulation—aye thars the rub,
One would hope that this is the wake-up call that these Big Tech bullies need to change their ways, but, given what we know about the nature of Silicon Valley, will they care? This industry banned the President of the United States because they didn’t like his opinions. They’ll be more likely to be looking only for ways to improve the disguises that their platforms wear, not changing their ways.
Much of this post was first seen at Flag and Cross
