A Rasmussen poll shows that 51 percent of Facebook users are “very” or “somewhat” likely to quit Facebook over privacy concerns.
Rasmussen, one of the most accurate pollsters in the 2016 presidential election, polled 639 Facebook users and found that the recent scandal currently embroiling the social media giant appears to be taking a toll on users’ trust.
Only 17 percent believe their “personal data” is “very” secure on Facebook, while 31 percent believe it is only “somewhat secure.” A full 48 percent believe it is either not “very secure” (31 percent) or “not at all secure” (17 percent).
When asked, “How likely are you to quit Facebook all together because of privacy concerns?,” a majority of 51 percent said “very” (16 percent) or “somewhat” likely (35 percent).
Only 47 percent said “not very” or “not at all likely.”
Facebook is currently under fire over the news that a data analytics firm, Cambridge Analytica, harvested information from millions of Facebook users. At first it was believed that the firm worked for the Trump campaign in 2016, but that now appears to be just another piece of mainstream media fake news.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg claims Cambridge Analytica did this without approval. However, during the 2012 presidential campaign, there are credible reports that Facebook knew the Obama re-election campaign harvested data from users without consent but did nothing because Facebook wanted Obama to win.
A Reuters poll released Sunday showed similar results. Only 41 percent trust Facebook to protect their data, compared to 66 percent for Amazon, 62 percent for Google, and even 47 percent for Yahoo.
Last week, Facebook’s stock price took a 14 percent hit and the hashtag #deletefacebook, that encourages users to delete their Facebook page, gained steam all across social media.
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