Technology firms 'more trusted than traditional media'

• American researchers also found that people now trust the technology heavyweights more than social networking site such as Face book and Twitter.
  According to the new study, the best part of people rated online privacy as one of their major concerns at what time using the internet after both Google and Face book were hit by rows over people's private facts being disclosed on the web.
  
• The study, of more than 2100 people, set up nearly half they trusted the big three technology firm Apple, Google and Microsoft" completely" or "a lot”.
  This was compared to 8% trusting Twitter and 13 per cent saying they had more faith in Face book.
  But all of the companies rated upper than traditional media, the research concluded.
  One in five young adults, age between 18 and 29, said they had higher trust levels in Face book.
  Meanwhile, 15 per cent of young people said they trusted Twitter.
  The traditional media received little empathy from the public with only eight percent of all adults and six percent of youthful adults saying they trusted them.
  John Zogby, CEO of Zogby International, a market research company which conducted theresearch, said big companies have had the time to build brand equity, while Face book and Twitter do not have the corporate identity.
  Asked how important online privacy was to consumers, Mr. Zombie said it was huge.
  "I think to a great degree, it’s all about privacy," he said.
  Google is currently at the centre of a global privacy storm after it admitted that its Street View cars had mistakenly collected information sent over unencrypted Wi-Fi networks.
  The company, based in Mountain View, California, is currently facing a series of international investigations over the crisis after it admitted recording information broadcast via unsecured wireless networks in family homes.
  
  
• Eric Schmidt, the Google chief executive recently admitted the company had “screwed up” after its Street Cars wrongly mapped every wireless network in Britain to use the information for commercial purposes.
  [/color]Facebook also was at the centre of a privacy row[/size][/b] after it recently changed its policies to give users more control over how much information users could make public.
  They were forced to make changes to its settings after protests from some users and privacy watchdogs.