Social media ‘not trusted with data’

Social networking sites have been warned to tighten up their data security or risk being “red-faced”, after a new study revealed just 15% of consumers would entrust their personal data to the likes of Facebook and Twitter.
A YouGov poll of 2,000 adults for Symantec’s inaugural Trust Index shows trust is low across most sectors. The top performer was financial services, on a rather poor 55%, followed by the public sector on 50%, and online retailers on 45%. This mediocre performance is well ahead of the percentages for other sectors, however, with social media, publishing and online gaming hit trust numbers around the 15% mark.
The Index found that only tiny percentage of people trust any sector to a high degree, with only 10% of people putting banking – the best-scoring sector – into the top category for complete trust. Younger people were also found to be more trusting than older or retired people.
“It’s clear that social networking sites aren’t doing enough to assure the public that their personal information is safe and secure,” said Symantec security strategist Siân John. “As these industries increasingly become more monetised, they will be handling more sensitive data. It’s therefore vital that they avoid being left red-faced as a result of serious data breaches.”
It seems the public view of an industry is also heavily influenced by negative publicity, which would explain the poor showing of gaming in a year when one of its biggest companies, Sony, suffered a major data breach.

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