Despite ongoing security concerns (the most recent of which is the koob worm), Facebook has been named the number 15 most trusted company in the US. A survey conducted by Ponemon Institute and TRUSTe, the Internet privacy trustmark company, has revealed a short list of what people feel are the most trustworthy companies around, in terms of Privacy Security.
The survey sample consisted of 6,486 adult consumers in the US, and resulted in 706 companies being named. 211 of these companies actually made the cut, including Facebook. So who took the number one spot? American Express, which was in the same position last year. eBay follows as the second most trusted company, with IBM, Amazon and Johnson & Johnson completing the top five.
As you can see, the annual Ponemon Institute and TRUSTe survey looks at a wide array of consumer-facing companies for results, so having Facebook join the ranking of the top 20 most trusted companies is certainly a notable shift in public opinion. Actually, this is Facebook’s first time appearing on the Ponemon Institute and TRUSTe most-trusted list, ushering in a new era for online technology and social networks.
The presence of Facebook on the top 20 list of most trusted companies also goes to show that retailers and financial institutions aren’t the only facets of web culture that are deemed important for personal security measures. and it all makes sense when you look at some of the other key findings from this year’s survey: the importance of privacy continues to rise, with 73% of consumers saying it’s important or very important (up 69% in 2006), with fewer consumers feeling they are losing control of personal information (down 11% since 2006).
Becoming more mainstream of a communication tool is certainly part of Facebook’s recognition in its consideration for the Ponemon Institute and TRUSTe survey this year. But as Facebook moves further towards becoming a marketplace, enabling you to give it your credit card number and centralize purchases made via various applications, being a most trusted and secure company (not just website) so early on will only help Facebook in the future.
Image from Victrix Media
Just goes to show how naive and ignorant most people really are. If anyone has some evidence or truth that I am incorrect or only partly correct would be much appreciated. I am trying to get to the bottom of a ‘Privacy Concern’ myself and other users have.
Please see the group that is isted here as my website for more info. These are VERY IMPORTANT ISSUES that need to be cleared up and have some transparency around here.
Looking at the current statistics, (140,000,000 users, 50,000+ applications) I don’t see how what FaceBook claims around application monitoring could be true or even possible.
In my mind, FaceBook is one of the LEAST TRUSTED COMPANIES IN TH WORLD!!! All just clever marketing by Harvard students, and hype. With an estimated valuation of 15 Billion recently, yet an income of only 150 million per year… How will they make profit in future? SELLING YOUR PROFILE AND CONSUMER DATA. That is the most likely ‘HOW’ for FaceBook. They will sell ads, which appear on screen…
But in future, they will sell ‘customers’ To developers and advertisers. MySpace has much simpler, more clear, more respectful privacy settings. FaceBook: CLEAR AS MUD. I DON’T TRUST THEM AT ALL.
Comment by Liam Vickery — December 28, 2008 @ 12:56 am
i have recently been bombarded by zynga texasholdem fb it states on my credit card i am not thrilled and many charges were made to my account im wondering when someone is going to get back to me on this….multiple charges over 400.00 worth and would like this resolved have contacted you on three different occasions dont want to start an account with zynga because this is the first time ive ever been to my knowledge…i might have had a facebook account a while ago but havent been to it in ages would like a resolution…what do i need to do….if this is soo and someone has gone thru this i would like it resolved all im saying is it doesnt seem to be to much privacy at all….if this is happening quite frequently
Comment by belinda — April 5, 2009 @ 6:19 am