Only 3% of Brits trust social media companies with personal data, claims research

In modern society, many of us find ourselves giving more and more of our personal information to better experience and use products and services provided by a range of industries and institutions. Some of those key institutions being social media titans such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

MoneyTransfers.com analysed data from YouGov, to establish which countries in the world most and least trust social media companies with their personal data. The findings show that Brits are amongst the least trusting in the world, with only 3% having faith that companies will not misuse their data.

Key findings

• Poland rank number one as 32% of Poles trust social media companies with their personal data
• India (16%), Germany (12%) and Indonesia (12%) are among the other countries where over 11% of citizens have confidence in social media companies’ ability to handle their personal data diligently
• Brits and Italians are the most sceptical, as only 3% of citizens from each country have faith in social media companies’ ability to manage their personal data in a competent and ethical way
• The United Arab Emirates (11%) is among the other countries where over 10% of citizens in the respective country have faith in social media companies with their personal data, respectively ranking fourth.

Methodology

YouGov surveyed up to 2,251 individuals (adults 18+) in each of the 17 included countries: United Kingdom, United States, China, Germany, France, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Spain, Poland, Mexico, United Arab Emirates, India, Australia, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Written by Jonathan Merry, managing director of MoneyTransfers.com