• by Ray Schultz , June 7, 2018

Most consumers are uncomfortable with the idea of brands buying and selling data on them. But the degree of their discomfort depends on whether they have downloaded their own Facebook data.

Those who have downloaded are a little more trusting, according to Sailthru’s 2018 Data Privacy Report.

It also depends on their location. For example, only 58% of those in Texas feel the government should regulate data use by brands, compared with 80% in New York. And 70% of the Texans believe they are responsible for their own data privacy, compared to 47% of the New Yorkers.

Sailthru surveyed 2,000 Americans in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal. It found, among other things, that people don’t want to pay for social media.

Overall, only 7.4% of the consumers polled are comfortable with the idea of brand buying and selling email addresses, phone numbers, social media pages and web browsing habits, etc. Over 70% are uncomfortable with it, 55.3% very much so. Another 24.9% are not sure.

This feeling is more pronounced among people who have not downloaded their Facebook data — 69% of those distrust trust brands with their data, compared to 53.9% who did download it.

In addition, 26.1% who have downloaded feel they have the tools to control their personal data online, versus 15.9% who have not.

But there are limits to the forbearance of even the consumers who have downloaded: Only 34.2% were comfortable with the data Facebook had gathered from their profile.

In addition, over half of both downloaders and non-downloaders say they are likely to delete at least one social media account in the next 12 months.

And geography only counts or so much — 52% in the non-downloaders in both New York and Texas favor government regulation of data.

Finally, 61% of the people who have not accessed their Facebook data believe companies should not sell personal information (vs. 58.3% of those who have seen it) . Only 4% of the non-downloading Texans disagree.

Sailthru surveyed over 2,000 consumers.