WHOM DO YOU DISTRUST?

A recent survey by the Ponemon Institute, an independent think tank that studies information issues in business and government, asked more than 6,300 adults which of a long list of government agencies they trust to safeguard personal information collected about them and which they do not. Based on the percentage of yes or no responses, agencies received a Privacy Trust rating. The most trusted: US Postal Service, Veterans Affairs, Internal Revenue Service, Social Security Administration and Federal Trade Commission, in that order. And those the fewest citizens trust? The Office of the Attorney General and the Justice Department. Ashcroft, please copy (see www.ponemon.org).