Americans Doubt Facebook Can Protect User Data, CBS Poll Finds
(CBS) -- Americans say they were not surprised to learn that outside companies were accessing personal data of Facebook users, but they think Facebook's response so far has been unacceptable and believe the company could be doing more, a CBS News poll finds.
Other conclusions:
Americans voice concern over the matter, but fewer than half say it concerns them a great deal. Most do call for more government regulation of social media and tech companies in an effort to keep their data private.
A majority of Facebook users describe their personal data as currently unsafe, in that they feel it is possibly being given to people with whom they wouldn't choose to share it.
Looking ahead, Americans don't have much confidence in Facebook's ability to keep user data private going forward, or to stop fake accounts, or misleading information.
Six in ten Americans think the government should increase regulations on technology and social media companies to try to prevent user data from being taken – a view that cuts across partisan lines, shared by most Democrats and Republicans. Nearly four in ten Americans disagree, saying regulations could limit innovation and growth.
Just over half of Americans so far call Facebook's response to the unauthorized access unacceptable, and they feel the company could do more, though many still aren't sure about it. Only one in five says the company's response has been acceptable.
The CBS News survey is conducted by YouGov using a nationally representative sample of 1,506 U.S. residents interviewed online between April 6-9, 2018. This sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, and education, based on the American Community Survey, conducted by the U.S. Bureau of the Census, as well as 2012 and 2016 Presidential vote. Respondents were selected from YouGov's opt-in panel to be representative of all U.S residents. The margin of error (a 95% confidence interval) based upon the entire sample is approximately 3 pts.
