Who do you trust more with your data, Apple or Google? [poll]

It recently came to light that Apple has been tracking GPS data on iPhone users. This may have been inadvertent or it may have been part of an effort to collect data in preparing for future apps and services. You can read Apple's official response and decide for yourself. Whatever the case may be, Apple is now in the same boat as Google as a company that has a lot of information about you and has the potential to use it in ways that you might not have imagined and might not like.

That naturally begs the question of which one you trust more with your personal data? There's a line of thinking that since Apple is more of a closed ecosystem it is a safer place to have your stuff -- compared to the Google ecosystem that always wants to scrape as much data as it can about you in order to provide you with a more customized experience (but one that sometimes plays fast and loose with user data).

However, there is a valid counter-argument. As my colleague Larry Dignan over at ZDNet says, he would much rather trust Google with his data because he knows that the company is under the privacy microscope from federal regulators and so it has to be more careful and transparent about the things it does.

What do you think? Answer the question below. There's no third option ("neither" or "both equally") for you wishy-washy people. Commit. Choose one, or don't answer the poll. Oh, and then please jump into the discussion and respectfully share your reasons why.

[poll id="204"]

Also read

• Your iPhone is tracking you (and has been for a while)
• Big Apple, Big Google, Big Brother
• Behind the curtain at Google: Social, China, AI, and ambition
• Big Brother is YOU watching
• Being tracked by your iPhone: Do you care?
• iPhone tracking only part of Apple's security and privacy shortcomings

This was originally published on TechRepublic.