Ever since the days of ancient Rome, people have been asking "who will guard the guardians?"
That concern has only intensified with the rise of Twitter, Facebook (META) -), Snapchat (SNAP) -), TikTok and other social media platforms.
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In 2022, over 4.6 billion people were using social media worldwide, according to Statista, a number projected to increase to almost six billion in 2027.
On average, internet users spend 151 minutes per day on social media and messaging apps, an increase of 40 minutes since 2015.
And yet Americans have little faith that social media executives will responsibly handle user privacy, according to a Pew Research survey.
Some 77% of Americans said they have little or no trust in leaders of social media companies to publicly admit mistakes and take responsibility for data misuse.
While most of the respondents said they trust themselves to make the right decisions about their personal information, a majority of Americans were skeptical that anything they do will make a difference.
Support for more regulation
And they are no more optimistic about the government’s ability to rein them in, as 71% have little to no trust that these tech leaders will be held accountable by the government for data missteps.
Americans — particularly Republicans — have grown more concerned about how the government uses their data.
The share who said they were worried about government use of people’s data has increased from 64% in 2019 to 71% today.
Roughly four-in-ten Americans said they were very worried about companies selling their information to others without them knowing, or people stealing their identity or personal information.
Fewer were apprehensive about law enforcement monitoring what they do online.
A majority of Americans said they were concerned, lack control and have a limited understanding about how the data collected about them is used, regardless of whether it’s the government or companies using their data.
Support for more regulation of what companies can do with people’s data reaches across the political aisle, with 78% of Democrats and 68% of Republicans sharing this view.
Concerns about AI
Americans are now less knowledgeable than before about how companies are using their personal data, Pew Research said. The share who said they don’t understand this has risen from 59% in 2019 to 67% in 2023.
Privacy policies are required for any website collecting personal data to identify an individual. Many third party sites must have a privacy policy to protect their interests.
The survey found that 56% of Americans said they always, almost always or often click “agree” right away, without reading what privacy policies say.
Another 22% say they do this sometimes. And 18% say they rarely or never agree without reading.
People are also uneasy about artificial intelligence.
Among those who’ve heard about AI, the study found that 70% have little to no trust in companies to make responsible decisions about how they use it in their products.
Eight-in-ten of those familiar with AI say its use by companies will lead to people’s personal information being used in ways they won’t be comfortable with or that weren’t originally intended.
Still, 62% of Americans who’ve heard of AI think that as companies use it, people’s information will be used to make life easier.
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