{"id":116028,"date":"2017-11-06T10:34:27","date_gmt":"2017-11-06T15:34:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/countingpips.com\/?p=116028"},"modified":"2018-06-01T15:53:29","modified_gmt":"2018-06-01T15:53:29","slug":"fair-or-foul-trust-in-tech-reaches-alarming-levels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/2017\/11\/fair-or-foul-trust-in-tech-reaches-alarming-levels\/","title":{"rendered":"Fair or Foul? Trust in Tech Reaches Alarming Levels"},"content":{"rendered":"
November 6, 2017<\/div>
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By WallStreetDaily.com<\/u><\/a> \"Fair<\/p>\n

\"LouisThe Verge just reported something that got my attention\u2026<\/p>\n

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\u201cBig tech companies have turned the corner from friendly giants to insidious monopolies.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The monopoly thesis is based on the $2.7 billion EU anti-trust ruling against Google and the possibility of similar legal action here in the United States.<\/p>\n

But a fascinating survey was also published alongside the article. It took the temperature of 1,520 people and how they view Amazon (AMZN), Google (GOOG), Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Facebook (FB) and Twitter (TWTR).<\/p>\n

Overwhelmingly, the respondents trust Amazon almost as much as their own bank. Google was a close second to Amazon in trustworthiness.<\/p>\n

Microsoft and Apple fell into the middle.<\/p>

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And America doesn\u2019t trust Twitter or Facebook.<\/p>\n

So this got me thinking\u2026<\/p>\n

When people trust a corporate juggernaut as much as their own bank, is that signaling a problem?<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll bet many of you have granted your favorite tech company a \u201cfree pass\u201d to construct a monopoly \u2014 just because you love their products.<\/p>\n

Fair or foul?<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what you need to know now.<\/p>\n

A Shocking Imbalance of Trust<\/h2>\n

\"MartinWe entrust technology companies with an alarming amount of information. Much more so than banks.<\/p>\n

But based on the survey, I\u2019m convinced that consumers rate their level of trust based on what these companies do <\/em>with this information.<\/p>\n

Banks, for instance, make little use of data beyond assessing your creditworthiness.<\/p>\n

So using this logic, it makes sense that consumers rank Amazon the highest (even if the trust is misplaced). Similar to banks \u2014 it does nothing with our information that consumers deem threatening.<\/p>\n

The company has oodles of information about you. But it doesn\u2019t use that data beyond leading you to products that you may find interesting.<\/p>\n

It also makes sense that Facebook and Twitter rank at the bottom.<\/p>\n

These companies know all about your embarrassing moments.<\/p>\n

They have a library of your unguarded remarks. And if you\u2019re a heavy user of their services, their AI has a pretty good idea of what kind of person you are.<\/p>\n

Now, this was mildly creepy when this information was only used to target you with appropriate advertisements.<\/p>\n

However, it has been well publicized that Twitter and Facebook are increasingly seeking to censor the items and tweets on their systems. In other words, they can ban you for any reason.<\/p>\n

For most people, that is a step too far in the direction of Big Brother. So the low position on the survey is appropriate.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s unsettling about the survey is the amount of trust people have in Google.<\/p>\n

With its monopoly on search \u2014 along with its operating system and Gmail \u2014 it has gigantic amounts of information on its customers. And like Facebook and Twitter, it has a nasty tendency to censor and ban.<\/p>\n

So what gives?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s possible that consumers are fooled by Google\u2019s \u201cDon\u2019t Be Evil\u201d slogan. (Honestly, that alone has always made me deeply suspicious of the company\u2019s services.)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also possible that people realize they cannot escape its reach. And they\u2019re simply equating dominance with trustworthiness.<\/p>\n

Either way, the privacy issue is becoming increasingly salient as the Facebooks of the world expand their reach.<\/p>\n

If we\u2019re scared of Big Brother \u2014 and someone we get to vote into office every four years \u2014 we should certainly be wary of unelected heads of mega-corporations that possess infinite data about us. (Speaking of the president\u2026 Trump\u2019s policies are unleashing a tidal wave of cash worth $11.7 quadrillion<\/em>. Here\u2019s how to get in on the action.<\/strong><\/a>)<\/p>\n

Even Amazon shouldn\u2019t be safe from skepticism. Be warned!<\/p>\n

Verdict: Foul!<\/p>\n

What Amazon Can Teach Our Government<\/h2>\n

\"JonathanI\u2019m an Amazon junkie.<\/p>\n

I won\u2019t throw any numbers out there. But let\u2019s just say \u2014 with a newborn and little patience for long lines at brick-and-mortar shops \u2014 my wife and I do a lot <\/em>of business with Amazon.<\/p>\n

And frankly, I don\u2019t know many people who don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

The fact is\u2026 Amazon makes life a whole lot easier for its customers \u2014 from ecommerce to video streaming to hosting web data for other businesses.<\/p>\n

And when things go wrong, they\u2019re quick and relentless in their pursuit of righting their mistakes.<\/p>\n

Sure, the company is shockingly big and powerful. And they\u2019ve got their flaws like any other company. (AmazonFresh, I\u2019m looking at you!)<\/p>\n

But they do a better job of taking care of their customers than, say, the U.S. federal government does.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not rocket science: The better you take care of your customers, the more they will trust you.<\/p>\n

Amazon has been accused of annihilating some of America\u2019s strongest retailers and killing the economy by cheapening goods across the board.<\/p>\n

Spare us the bull, will ya\u2026<\/p>\n

Amazon is giving the people what they want: cheap stuff, delivered right to their doorstep in two days or less.<\/p>\n

Man, if that\u2019s a crime\u2026 throw the 85 million happy Prime subscribers in jail along with Amazon.<\/p>\n

If more businesses \u2014 and governments \u2014 operated the way Amazon does, imagine how bright our world would be.<\/p>\n

Verdict: Fair!<\/p>\n

Risky Proposition<\/h2>\n

\"LouisTechnology runs our lives. From smartphones, laptops and apps\u2026 to social media, streaming video and cloud computing \u2014 the list is endless.<\/p>\n

Amazingly, most of these vital services are provided by only a handful of companies. Like Alphabet, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft.<\/p>\n

So it\u2019s a fair assessment to say we unknowingly trust them to a large extent. But it\u2019s a foul proposition.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re not set up to look after us. Yet they have more intimate details about our everyday lives than some of our closest human relationships.<\/p>\n

While some companies like Apple have a strong track record of respecting our privacy, it\u2019s not guaranteed to continue.<\/p>\n

And then there are companies like Facebook. It\u2019s notorious for amassing and violating users\u2019 privacy in legal (but nonetheless unsavory) ways.<\/p>\n

CEO Mark Zuckerberg has endured multiple public dustups because of the company\u2019s questionable practices with user data.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t surprising, nor is it likely to end. Why? Because Facebook generates 97% of its revenue from serving ads.<\/p>\n

In other words, Facebook\u2019s user is the product! Scary but true. Which is why I\u2019ve never joined the social network.<\/p>\n

The more we use various technologies, the more valuable our user data is destined to become.<\/p>\n

At some point, it\u2019s going to be too tempting to not <\/em>violate our trust to generate revenue. Sadly, Facebook\u2019s practices won\u2019t be the exception; they\u2019ll become the norm.<\/p>\n

Bottom line: Tech giants provide tremendous utility. There\u2019s no denying it. Over 70% of Americans believe their services have had a positive (or at least somewhat positive) effect on society, according to a recent Axios\/SurveyMonkey poll. But utility isn\u2019t the basis for trust. Blindly trusting tech behemoths is a risky proposition. So don\u2019t do it.<\/p>\n

Verdict: Foul!<\/p>\n

Ahead of the tape,<\/p>\n

Louis Basenese
\nChief Investment Strategist, Wall Street Daily<\/em><\/p>\n

P.S. Read This Before Nov. 9\u2026 <\/strong>News sources like Bloomberg, Forbes<\/em>, CNBC and The Wall Street Journal<\/em> are speculating about an event that could quickly become one of the greatest moneymaking opportunities EVER. While you may have heard some details about this event before, I\u2019m willing to bet you haven\u2019t heard that it could turn every $2 into as much as $6,000 in a matter of weeks. Click here to learn more.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The post Fair or Foul? Trust in Tech Reaches Alarming Levels<\/a> appeared first on Wall Street Daily<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By WallStreetDaily.com The Verge just reported something that got my attention\u2026 \u201cBig tech companies have turned the corner from friendly giants to insidious monopolies.\u201d The monopoly thesis is based on the $2.7 billion EU anti-trust ruling against Google and the possibility of similar legal action here in the United States. But a fascinating survey was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-116028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","no-post-thumbnail"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116028"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116028\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":116048,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116028\/revisions\/116048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}