A new survey found that 3 out of 5 Americans distrust social media when it comes to protecting their privacy online. Despite increased use of social media platforms Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat and use of smart speakers like Amazon Echo and Google Home, most Americans have little or no trust that these platforms, or current laws, will protect them, according to the survey conducted by Washington-based digital agency Rad Campaign and analytics firm Lincoln Park Strategies.
The biennial survey analyzes and tracks trends over a 4-year period, providing one of the most comprehensive datasets on the behaviors and opinions of individuals across the United States. With GDPR taking effect on May 25th, nearly three-quarters of Americans (73 percent) believe that it is likely that social media companies collect and sell their data (a 24 percent increase since 2014). Additionally, while 87 percent of Americans now say they are using social media daily, only 3 percent have a lot of trust that social networks will protect their privacy. This lack of trust could likely be attributed to a number of factors including the Cambridge Analytica breach, the myPersonality breach, and left-leaning social media bias.
Conservatives have become much less trusting of social media after a Western Journal study Confirmed that recent Facebook algorithm changes impacted their favorite sites negatively while left-leaning sites saw increased interaction.
Liberal publishers have gained about 2 percent more web traffic from Facebook than they were getting prior to the algorithm changes implemented in early February.
On the other hand, conservative publishers have lost an average of nearly 14 percent of their traffic from Facebook.
When only the most-visited liberal and conservative sites are analyzed, the bias is even more clear.
Key findings of the survey include:
- The online privacy threats that Americans are most concerned about include having personal data stolen (86 percent), identity theft (85 percent) — an increase of 10 percent since 2016, and downloading a virus/malware (84 percent) — an increase of 4 percent since 2016.
- Millennials have the most trust in social media sites (40 percent) — compared to any other generation. Adults 71+ (silent generation) have the least trust at 27 percent.
- Facebook’s popularity amongst Millennials has declined by nearly 10 percent since 2014.
- Over half of Americans (58 percent) believe their smart speakers are constantly listening and collecting personal data on them, then selling that data to advertisers.
While almost 40 percent of Americans now believe that current privacy laws are too weak and do not provide reasonable protections to their online privacy, only 28 percent feel that Members of Congress understand the implications of online privacy.
“On one hand, fake news and major data breaches online are taking a toll on Americans and their distrust of social networks and companies to protect their online privacy and data,” said Allyson Kapin, Co-Founder of Rad Campaign. “It’s concerning that close to 75 percent of Americans don’t think that Members of Congress understand the implications of online privacy and how to regulate it. At the same time, social media usage is up overall, and more people than ever before are using it as a primary news source. And yet three-quarters of Americans admit that they still don’t read ‘Terms of Service’ when they sign up for new platforms or services.”
“As more and more of our activities create more and more data, we continue down a path where trust is waning, but that is clearly not affecting behaviors. We also know that politicians in the US are not pushing for meaningful changes in how data is handled,” said Stefan Hankin, President of Lincoln Park Strategies. “This combination, coupled with our survey data shows potential problems ahead for social networks, however usership has not created a crisis situation for the firms to police themselves. It will be interesting to see the effects of the GDPR implementation in the EU, and if the US and other countries follow suit, or continue down our current path.”
