The Future of Digital Trust is in Doubt

The future of digital trust is in doubt. According to the Trust Barometer 2021 report by Edelman, global trust in the tech sector has decreased from 77% to 68%. Several concerns have grown more common in recent years, including misinformation, 5G networks, and AI bias. These losses in trust are indicative of the increased suspicion and apprehension people have about the role of technology in their lives. Millions of people have shifted to online learning, remote working, and e-commerce.

Although the future of digital trust is in question, emerging technologies are being adopted by consumers. While consumers may be skeptical of certain technologies, this distrust is often based on irrational fears. For example, consumers once shied away from standing too close to a telephone during a thunderstorm. Although these fears persist, time on the market demonstrates that consumers generally trust the telephone. In fact, the telephone now ranks as one of the most trusted technologies.

Some prominent analysts argue that trust is becoming conditional online. This means that it is no longer rooted in individuals or groups. Even if trust is absent, it is conditioned by the fact that it is not necessarily related to specific institutions. As a result, people are resigned to operating in an environment where they cannot selectively trust others. This means that digital environments should be more trustworthy than offline ones. And if that is the case, it is time to take steps to address this issue.

As a matter of fact, Americans do not seem to have the same level of distrust in online privacy. In a Pew survey, 38 percent of Americans said the same thing. While Republicans haven’t changed their minds, the majority of Democrats have increased their support for regulation. And, while independents were less supportive than Democrats, they increased their support by a whopping 66 percent. So, the future of digital distrust will be decided by our political choices, so it will be important to work together to find solutions that help consumers avoid pitfalls.

While people are beginning to lose faith in institutions and systems that are supposed to protect their society, the technology is still making progress to alleviate these problems. Businesses and infrastructures depend on trust to run smoothly. This is particularly important because they need to know what stakeholders will do. In today’s world of fake news and misleading information, the lack of trust is a major challenge. One potential solution to this problem may come from blockchains.

Facebook, TikTok, and Google are among the four most influential tech companies. According to a survey by WhistleOut, 80% of Americans don’t trust tech giants with their privacy. And they think they don’t have enough control over how they track their behavior. In a study of 1,122 adults nationwide, more than two-thirds of respondents said that Facebook negatively impacts society than positively.