SOURCE: Ponemon Institute

April 07, 2008 13:05 ET

Ponemon Institute Announces 2008 Privacy Trust Rankings of U.S. Government Agencies

U.S. Postal Service Once Again Tops in Public Perceptions of Trust in Public Institutions

TRAVERSE CITY, MI--(Marketwire - April 7, 2008) - In its 2008 Privacy Trust Study of the United States Government, an annual report measuring the public's level of trust in federal agencies, the United States Postal Service has once again come in as the most trusted government entity. This is the fourth year in a row that the USPS has earned top honors in the Ponemon Institute's Privacy Trust Study of the United States Government, a report that ranks from most- to least-trusted, 74 federal agencies known to collect information on individuals and that tracks public perceptions related to the ability of public institutions to safeguard citizen's privacy and personal information.

Data generated from the study is evaluated and ranked using the Ponemon Institute's Privacy Trust index and assigned a privacy trust score. According to the Ponemon Institute, the five most trusted federal agencies are:

                                              2008          2007
                                             Privacy       Privacy
Most Trusted U.S. Federal Organization     Trust Score   Trust Score

U.S. Postal Service                                 86%           83%
Federal Trade Commission                            82%           80%
Bureau of Consumer Protection*                      79%           79%
Census Bureau                                       75%           68%
National Institutes of Health                       73%           71%

The five least trusted federal agencies, according to the Ponemon Institute study:

                                              2008          2007
                                             Privacy       Privacy
Least Trusted U.S. Federal Organization    Trust Score   Trust Score

Customs and Border Protection                       20%           32%
National Security Agency                            21%           19%
Central Intelligence Agency                         23%           21%
Department of Justice                               24%           29%
Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration               26%           32%

"The government requires that citizens provide detailed personal information in order to deliver many services, but this does not absolve public agencies of the responsibility to protect that information as it demands of private sector companies," said Dr. Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder of the Ponemon Institute. "What we've found tracking this study over the years is that those agencies with the most public interaction, such as the Postal Service, tend to score well -- provided they also demonstrate a healthy respect for an interest in maintaining the public trust."

Notable among the results of the 2008 Privacy Trust Study of the United States Government are the fact that the USPS has increased its Privacy Trust score each of the study's four years; the appearance of both Customs and Border Protection and the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration among the five least trusted agencies in a year when illegal immigration has been a volatile political issue; and the continued poor showing of among most secretive agencies: the NSA and CIA.

Copies of the 2008 Privacy Trust Study of the United States Government are available through the Ponemon Institute.

About the Ponemon Institute

The Ponemon Institute© is dedicated to advancing responsible information and privacy management practices in business and government. To achieve this objective, the Institute conducts independent research, educates leaders from the private and public sectors and verifies the privacy and data protection practices of organizations in a variety of industries.