[NewsPoster]

Apple is about as trustworthy with customer data as its main competitors, a recent poll of the public suggests. In results released on Monday, approximately 60 percent of respondents to an online survey either "strongly agreed" or "somewhat agreed" with a statement asking if they trust Apple to keep data safe from hackers, a response that is said to be similar to the same question asked of Google, Amazon, and Microsoft's ability to protect customer information.

Conducted from March 11 to March 16 by Reuters and Ipsos, the results suggest at least that the public has a belief that Apple will protect customer data comparable with many rivals, but it still manages to exceed some. Of the six companies listed in the survey, Yahoo and Facebook scored lower trust scores, with 39 percent agreeing Facebook could keep personal details safe, and Yahoo receiving a 44 percent agreement level.

"This poll was about getting a feel to see whether Apple is seen as some kind of exemplary company, It is not." said Ipsos pollster Chris Jackson. "Apple has the same halo as many tech companies: a majority of people, but not a huge majority, agree that they trust them to protect their information." Jackson suggests Facebook's low result could stem from the fact it exposes more consumer data than other companies.

Security has become even more of an important topic in recent times, especially considering the debate over the FBI request to Apple to unlock a device, but it doesn't appear to be a high priority for consumers. The pool asked what was the most important consideration when buying a new smartphone, with performance and price each garnering a third of the vote, while security was only of interest to one in ten people.

Jackson suggests "Security is one of these things that gets people in trouble when it lapses, but it's not something consumers are going to be shopping for," and that fighting the FBI request doesn't seem to have helped make security more of a priority to end users.

[daqman]

Polls of the public are, in general, problematic because the average member of the public has no clue at all about how Amazon, Google, Apple, Microsoft and any of the others compare in terms of security. Asking them what they think is meaningless unless what you want to gage is the level of comprehension. A more interesting study would be to compare this poll with a poll of experts to see how public comprehension maps onto "reality" as perceived by the expert.

[Flying Meat]

"This poll was about getting a feel to see whether Apple is seen as some kind of exemplary company, It is not."

"Is seen as", isn't the same as "is or isn't an exemplary company.
It's a public opinion survey, and only serves to inform Apple where they need to focus on more brand detail (which people will still gloss over

Preemptively, no. I'm not saying Apple is perfect.

[Charles Martin]

Flying Meat beat me to it. All this poll should tell Apple is that they need to differentiate themselves from Google/FaceBook/Amazon more, because public perception aside, there is a very serious and fundamental difference in approach: Apple designs things from the start to respect privacy; the others design things from the start to invade privacy.

[alansky]

Asking the dumb public whether they trust Apple with their data more than other companies has nothing to do with Apple's actual trustworthiness. This poll is gathering nothing but the opinions of largely clueless consumers who believe whatever they read on the internet.

[DiabloConQueso]

A great many of the companies in the world are very concerned with the common, clueless consumer's perceptions and opinions concerning various facets of the company.