Trust in Facebook has spectacularly nosedived after its enormous data breach

Advertisement
Trust in Facebook has spectacularly nosedived after its enormous data breach

Mark Zuckerberg

Reuters

Mark Zuckerberg looks glum during Congress grilling.

Advertisement
  • Trust in Facebook's data handling has dramatically collapsed following the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
  • A study by think-tank the Ponemon Institute found just 27% of people think Facebook will protect their privacy, compared to 79% in 2017.
  • Respondents were upset that Facebook did not confess to the data breach in 2015.


Trust in Facebook has spectacularly collapsed after Cambridge Analytica (CA) harvested the data of 87 million users.

A survey of 3,000 people by US think-tank the Ponemon Institute, reported by The Financial Times, showed that users are significantly more sceptical that Facebook will handle their personal information with care than they were last year.

Complimentary Tech Event
Transform talent with learning that works
Capability development is critical for businesses who want to push the envelope of innovation.Discover how business leaders are strategizing around building talent capabilities and empowering employee transformation.Know More

In the week after former CA staffer Christopher Wylie's revelations about the data breach, just 27% of respondents to the Ponemon study agreed with the statement: "Facebook is committed to protecting the privacy of my personal information."

This was a substantial drop on the 79% of people who agreed with this statement in 2017. In fact, the graph below shows that confidence in Facebook's data handling had been trending up since 2015.

Advertisement

Facebook

Business Insider/FT/Ponemon Institute

Ponemon has been polling US Facebook users for most of the past decade, according to the FT. It said some respondents were particularly upset that the company had not informed them of the CA data breach in 2015. This was when Wylie brought the issue to Facebook's attention.

"They put Facebook on such a high pedestal that the bottom is more painful," Ponemon Chairman Larry Ponemon told the FT. Business Insider has contacted the think-tank for the full results of its survey.

{{}}