Not often, on a measure of consumer rankings, do Verizon and AT&T outscore Apple, Google and Facebook. But a recent survey of consumer trust in firms as guardians of their privacy shows precisely that. 

Verizon and AT&T rank among the top 20 "most trusted" firms where it comes to protecting privacy, while Apple and Google do not appear on the top-20 list.

American Express is the most trusted company operating in the United States, on the dimension of privacy, among 217 organizations rated in our most trusted companies list, according to a new study by the Ponemon Institute.

Verizon, at the 11th position, is the most trusted U.S. communications company. AT&T is ranked 19th.

Though Apple and Googe, do not rank in the top 20 for end user trust, on the dimension of protecting privacy, Amazon is ranked third and eBay is ranked ninth.

New entrants to the top 20 most trusted list include: Microsoft (ranked 17), United Healthcare (ranked 18) and Mozilla (ranked 20).

Top 20 performers 2012 include:

American Express 1
Hewlett Packard 2
Amazon 3
IBM 4
US Postal Service 4
Procter & Gamble 6
USAA 7
Nationwide 8
eBay 9
Intuit 10
Verizon 11
Johnson & Johnson 12
FedEx 12
WebMD 13
Weight Watchers 14
U.S. Bank 15
Disney 16
Microsoft 17
United Healthcare 18
VISA 18
AT&T 19
Mozilla 20

Healthcare, consumer products, and banking are the industry segments considered by consumers to be the most trusted for privacy (among 25 industry categories). In contrast, Internet and social media, not-for-profits (charities) and toys are viewed as the least trusted for privacy.

Some 78 percent of respondents continue to perceive privacy and the protection of their personal information as very important or important to the overall trust equation. And privacy has been getting more important to people over seven years.