U.S. Citizens Least Trusting of Facebook's Handling of Personal Data

A Washington Post and George Mason University survey reveals that a significant portion of the American public—72%—lacks or completely lacks trust in Facebook's handling of users' personal data.

However, 20% of US citizens expressed either strong or moderate trust in Facebook's ability to manage user data effectively. The remaining 8% offered no opinion.

TikTok ranked second as the social media platform least trusted by US residents in managing personal data, with 63% expressing little or no confidence.

Furthermore, 60% of respondents reported little or no trust in Instagram's handling of personal data. Similarly, 53% each expressed distrust in WhatsApp and YouTube's data management practices.

Google and Microsoft each received a 47% and 42% distrust rating, respectively, regarding their handling of personal data. Apple and Microsoft also each received a 40% distrust rating regarding their management of user personal data.

The survey involved 1,222 adults, including 1,058 internet users in the United States. Conducted online between November 4th and 22nd, 2021, the survey has a margin of error of ±3.5%.