Australians have revealed they no longer trust the popular social media giant Facebook.
Created to allow people to connect and share any information 14 years ago, Facebook is increasingly not trusted by users with the fear their information is being hacked or sold.
A national survey has revealed four-in-five users believe Mark Zuckerberg’s online creation is stealing their personal data for profit, Daily Telegraph reported.
Only 15 per cent of Australians believe their personal information is being kept private by the social media giant despite general trust for the company being ‘phenomenally low’.
Australians have revealed they no longer trust the popular social media giant Facebook (stock image)
Created to allow people to connect and share any information 14 years ago, Facebook is increasingly not trusted by users with the fear their information is being hacked or sold
A national survey has revealed four-in-five users believe Mark Zuckerberg’s (pictured) online creation is stealing their personal data for profit
According to the YouGov Galaxy survey, a whopping 80 per cent of Facebook users are scared their ‘identity could be stolen’ while more than 50 per cent of people think if their data is sold, they should receive a profit.
Facebook has details on 16 million Australians including their credit card details, names of relatives and the phone numbers of everyone they know, the publication reported.
Experts have suggested Facebook users should hold off on providing personal details, even dates of birth or employment, so data isn’t manipulated.
Tanya Sinha deleted her account this week and told Perth Now the social media platform was not a ‘positive’ thing to be using.
‘It’s not a positive platform anymore and you are vulnerable to psychological manipulation,’ she said.
Thousands of people are also jumping on the ‘#deleteFacebook’ trend as backlash to the multi-billion dollar company taking personal information.
‘Remaining on Facebook at this point is tantamount to knowing a burglar is in one’s house and doing nothing because one cannot quantify the value of what is being stolen,’ one person wrote on Twitter.
‘Just downloaded my Facebook archive and deleted my account. I’ve been on the fence about taking this step for years. Honestly, I should have done it back when the news broke that they were running behavioural and emotional experiments on unwitting users,’ another said.
According to the YouGov Galaxy survey, a whopping 80 per cent of Facebook users are scared their ‘identity could be stolen’ (stock image)
Experts have suggested Facebook users should hold off on providing personal details, even dates of birth or employment, so data isn’t manipulated or simple delete their accounts
‘Why’d you give a random billionaire all of your personal info, photos and details so he could sell it without paying you? #DeleteFacebook,’ one wrote.
The Consumer Data Right is a new law being prepared by the Australian Government to protect people from having personal information hacked or misused.
‘The legislation will seek to ensure that data can only be used for the purpose for which it was provided. It will also give people the ability to access and edit their data, and be fully informed about how it’s used,’ Cyber Security minister Angus Taylor told Daily Telegraph.