The network created to build interpersonal interactions is less trusted with personal data than the leading online 'etailer' or the company that manages the majority of the world's online searches.
The reasons probably have to do with the way with the purpose for which these organizations were created - and how they have treated the data with which they have been entrusted.
Amazon is purely transactional. It was designed with consumer convenience in mind and has never forgotten the strategic advantage it derives from that fact. It has not abused - at least not obviously - the information it gleans from customers and it strives to push as much new product down its voluminous pipeline as the buying public will let it. In short, it understands who it is, what it does and how it relates to those who pay to keep it in business.
Google is a bit more removed from the consumer in a purely commercial way. But through the way it organizes searches (some not so obviously paid for by advertisers) and the way it sells advertising it has become deeply ingrained in the life of this society. Of the three companies mentioned, it is the only one whose name has become a common verb. People understand why they interact with the company, what it does for them - and what it might do to them - but again, it has a pretty good track record with those who use its services.
Facebook was established for social purposes, though those who created it understood that it was a commercial enterprise. That tension is at the heart of the mistrust to which the title alludes. Having created the social network, it is now attempting to monetize those billion or so relationships. Since the commercialization is not entirely voluntary - and often just not wanted - the company has resorted to tactics that often appear devious or rudely forceful. The problem is that this feels to its users like a violation of the unspoken and ill-defined relationship they believe they have entered into with the enterprise. The result is bruised feelings, a heightened sense of resentment on both sides and a loss of trust.
This is not to say that any one company is better or worse than the others, though many people have strong views on this topic. More to the point, this illustrates the degree to which purpose and behavior align as our growing online lives evolve. JL
Doug MacMillan reports in the Washington Post:
Fewer Web users trust Facebook Inc. with personal data than other Internet companies, including Amazon.com Inc. and Google Inc., a new poll suggests.
One-third of Internet users said they’re comfortable with Facebook’s handling of personal information to target ads for them, according to a Harris Interactive Inc. survey released today. Twice as many, or 66 percent, are comfortable with online retailer Amazon using data on past purchases to recommend products, and 41 percent of respondents trust Google to show ads based on past Web searches, according to the data.
Apple is selling the new tablet after paying $60M last month to settle a legal dispute regarding the iPad trademark in the country.
Facebook, owner of the world’s largest social network, uses data about people’s preferences to help advertisers market their wares. It agreed in November to settle complaints by the Federal Trade Commission that it failed to protect user information or disclose how the data would be used.
The poll, conducted by Harris on behalf of mobile marketing firm Placecast, surveyed 2,262 U.S. adults online this year. It asked about their level of comfort with the use of their data by various companies and types of merchants, including grocery stores and mobile-phone carriers.
Grocery stores were the most trusted group among respondents, 81 percent of whom said they felt comfortable with grocers using their shopping habits to tailor coupons to them.
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