Apple has dropped out of the Top 20 list in world's largest survey of consumer trust. Apple's 21st ranking in the Ponemon Institute's Most Trusted Companies for Privacy Study is its lowest ranking in three years. The survey asks consumers to name and rate organizations they believe are most committed to protecting the privacy of their personal information.
Apple fell from 8th place in 2009 to 12th in 2010, 14th in 2011 and 21st in 2012. Apple was not the only major company to find itself having been knocked out of a top-20 place, being joined by both Google and Facebook.
The Ponemon Institute is careful to point out that the survey reflects consumer perceptions of privacy, rather than actual privacy practices. Apple Insider notes that Apple has tightened its privacy controls in a number of ways following revelations that the Path app was uploading users' address books without permission. Apple now requires apps to obtain explicit permission from users before contact information can be accessed. Apps also seek permission before using accessing location data.
Both Apple's App Store and Google's Android Market were criticised by the FTC in December for failing to disclose to parents ways in which data might be shared from children's apps.
