Apple moved one notch down on the list of most trusted companies

Apple has come out the top 20 list of largest organizations of consumer confidence. Apple's rate is 21 in the list of most trusted companies, and it is the lowest ranking in three years. Consumers were asked to name the organization, which they consider to be the most reliable in the privacy of their personal information in the survey.

Apple moved down to 8th place in 2009, to 12th in 2010, 14 th in 2011 and 21st in 2012. Apple was not the only major company that is not in the top 20. Google and Facebook also didn't make it into this list.

Ponemon Institute tries not to indicate that the survey reflects the perception of the consumer privacy, and not the actual privacy practices. Apple Insider notes that Apple has tightened control of privacy, due to the downloading address book by Path app, without users permission. Apple now requires explicit permission from users before contact information will be available. The application also asks permission before using location data.

In December, the Apple App Store and Google's Android Market have been criticized by the FTC.