Top 10 controversies of Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft

Without doubt, the four major pillars of the technology community are Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft.

From search to operating systems, browsers to mobile devices and social networks, collectively the four companies have nearly half of the world's population using one of their products, services or devices.

But with worldwide brand recognition and sales into the hundreds of millions, there is bound to be something that goes horribly wrong from time to time.

And these companies have had their fair share of controversies. Most of them, even in light of the extension of the Patriot Act, ironically fall down to user privacy.

With this in mind, find below four galleries with each of them containing ten of the greatest controversies that company has had to endure, along with the criticism and the major faux pas' they have had to deal with.

Slideshow 1: Apple's greatest controversies

From iPods to iPads, Apple has cloaked its company in huge swathes of corporate secrecy, but has not been caught without difficulties in the process. This gadget giant has some of the most profane following known to mankind, but has had some set backs along the way.

Slideshow 2: Facebook's biggest foul-ups

With over 500 million users, not every one of them will always be happy. Here is a list of the top ten slip-ups, difficulties and negative obstacles that the company has had to endure and deal with over its relatively short lifespan.

Slideshow 3: Google's largest disasters

With issues of censorship to the very fact that it has a presence in China, this gallery will run through some of the disasters the world leading search giant has had to face in its decade-long lifetime.

Slideshow 4: Microsoft's epic screw-ups

From editing out the face of an African-American man on localised resources all the way to antitrust suits, this gallery looks through over twenty years of controversies from one of the world's largest technology companies.