Public Trust to Facebook Plummets Following Cambridge Analytica Scandal

A newly released survey has found that the public trust to Facebook dropped after the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The survey, which was conducted by the Ponemon Institute, discovered that only 27 percent of Americans are certain that Facebook is protecting their privacy, particularly their personal information.

This is considered a significant drop, since the same institute also asked the similar question in 2011, in which 67 percent of the participants are trusting Facebook.

The famous social media platform faces major trial as it was reported last month that the British political data firm Cambridge Analytica improperly obtained about 87 million data of Facebook users without their permission. They were used for political campaigns, such as the 2016 presidential campaign in the US. Because of this, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified to Congress to clear the relationship of their company with Cambridge Analytica.

After hearing Zuckerberg's testimony, those who believed in the commitment of Facebook in protecting the privacy of the users rose only from 27 percent to 28 percent.

In the overall findings, the public wants to have more transparency and protections concerning their personal information on Facebook. A statement also noted "Facebook has an obligation to inform me if my personal information is lost or stolen," those who agreed or strongly agreed rose from 48 percent last year to 73 percent this year.

A notable increase was also seen, suggesting government to regulate Facebook, as well as other platforms on the internet to protect the privacy of the users. In 2017, about 40 percent of the users strongly agreed with the idea, and the figure raised to 54 percent following the Cambridge Analytica scandal.