Poll Who Would You Trust More With Your Data Apple Or The Government

A large part of the issue with the Cambridge Analytica scandal was that the Facebook data obtained by the company didn’t just come from those who clicked through to the survey, but also their Facebook friends. That, says a WSJ report, is a growing issue.

In a hypothetical example, Prof. de Montjoye’s group reported that if just 1% of cellphones in London were compromised with malware, an attacker would be able to continuously track the location of more than half the city’s population …

Paradoxically, it suggests, the best way to protect the privacy of personal data may be to have all of it retained centrally, in encrypted form, with companies only being granted indirect access.

The theory is that one highly-protected database could be safer than having our personal data scattered throughout thousands of different databases.

With GDPR, Europe has an opening for such a service, and if any of the privacy regulations proposed in the U.S. gain traction, conditions could ripen here as well.

What’s your view? Do you think the ‘shared privacy’ theory is viable? And if so, who would you most trust with your data? Please take our poll and share your thoughts in the comments.