[governance] Majority Of Americans Don't Mind Being Spied Upon, Pew Study Finds

Chaitanya Dhareshwar chaitanyabd at gmail.com
Tue Jun 11 11:37:37 EDT 2013 

+2


On Tue, Jun 11, 2013 at 8:59 PM, Suresh Ramasubramanian
<suresh at hserus.net>wrote:

> Sample size doesn't quite matter as much as the method of sampling, and
> the questions asked in the survey, which must be carefully designed to
> eliminate interviewer bias, among other things
>
> --srs (iPad)
>
> On 11-Jun-2013, at 20:52, Simon Ontoyin <exigencygh at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> A contagiously hilarious study. 100 people?
>
>
> On Tue, Jun 11, 2013 at 5:48 AM, Riaz K Tayob <riaz.tayob at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>>  Majority Of Americans Don't Mind Being Spied Upon, Pew Study Finds
>> <picture-5.jpg> <http://www.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden>
>> Submitted by Tyler Durden <http://www.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden>on 06/10/2013 17:48 -0400
>>
>>
>>  In what is likely the most disappointing, if not unexpected, news of
>> the day, we find that according to a just released Pew Research study<http://www.people-press.org/2013/06/10/majority-views-nsa-phone-tracking-as-acceptable-anti-terror-tactic/>,
>> a *substantial majority, or 56% of Americans*, "*say the National
>> Security Agency’s (NSA) program tracking the telephone records of millions
>> of Americans is an acceptable way for the government to investigate
>> terrorism*." *Only 41% object to having every phone conversation
>> intercepted, investigated, analyzed, and recorded for posterity*. Sorry
>> Edward Snowden*: you just threw your life away for nothing**. *The sheep
>> have been properly and thoroughly conditioned and brainwashed, which is why
>> they continue to get precisely the government they so rightfully deserve.
>>
>> <6-10-13-1.png><http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/2013/06/6-10-13-1.png>
>>
>> More from Pew:
>>
>>   The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center and The
>> Washington Post, conducted June 6-9 among 1,004 adults,* finds no
>> indications that last week’s revelations of the government’s collection of
>> phone records and internet data have altered fundamental public views about
>> the tradeoff between investigating possible terrorism and protecting
>> personal privacy.*
>>
>> It just gets better:
>>
>>   <6-10-13-3.png><http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/2013/06/6-10-13-3.png>
>> *Currently 62% say it is more important for the federal government to
>> investigate possible terrorist threats, even if that intrudes on personal
>> privacy. Just 34% say it is more important for the government not to
>> intrude on personal privacy, even if that limits its ability to investigate
>> possible terrorist threats.*
>>
>>
>>
>> These opinions have changed little since an ABC News/Washington Post
>> survey in January <6-10-13-2.png><http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/2013/06/6-10-13-2.png>2006.
>> Currently, there are only modest partisan differences in these opinions:
>> 69% of Democrats say it is more important for the government to investigate
>> terrorist threats, even at the expense of personal privacy, as do 62% of
>> Republicans and 59% of independents.
>>
>>
>>
>> However, while six-in-ten or more in older age groups say it is more
>> important to investigate terrorism even if it intrudes on privacy, young
>> people are divided: 51% say investigating terrorism is more important while
>> 45% say it is more important for the government not to intrude on personal
>> privacy, even if that limits its ability to investigate possible threats.
>>
>> The survey finds that while there are apparent differences between the
>> NSA surveillance programs under the Bush and Obama administrations, overall
>> public reactions to both incidents are similar. *Currently, 56% say it
>> is acceptable that the NSA “has been getting secret court orders to track
>> telephone calls of millions of Americans in an effort to investigate
>> terrorism.”*
>>
>> In January 2006, a few weeks after initial new reports of the Bush
>> administration’s surveillance program, 51% said it was acceptable for the
>> NSA to investigate “people suspected of involvement with terrorism by
>> secretly listening in on telephone calls and reading e-mails between some
>> people in the United States and other countries, without first getting
>> court approval to do so.”
>>
>> Perhaps least surprising is that once the most vocal objector to "Dubya"
>> pervasive surveillance, the Democrats, are now its most ardent defenders.
>> And so once again, political party line stupidity trumps common sense.
>>
>>   Republicans and Democrats have had very different views of the two
>> operations. Today, only about half of Republicans (52%) say it is
>> acceptable for the NSA to obtain court orders to track phone call records
>> of millions of Americans to investigate terrorism. In January 2006, fully
>> 75% of Republicans said it was acceptable for the NSA to investigate
>> suspected terrorists by listing in on phone calls and reading emails
>> without court approval.
>>
>>
>>
>> <6-10-13-4.png><http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/2013/06/6-10-13-4.png>
>>
>>
>>
>> *Democrats now view the NSA’s phone surveillance as acceptable by 64% to
>> 34%. In January 2006, by a similar margin (61% to 36%), Democrats said it
>> was unacceptable for the NSA to scrutinize phone calls and emails of
>> suspected terrorists.*
>>
>> Of course, if the president was Romney, his head would already be on a
>> stick. Metaphorically speaking of course.
>>
>> Finally, the biggest danger to America it appears is not a *turnkey
>> totalitarian tyrant*, but broad apathy as it turns out only one in four
>> follow NSA News "very closely." The other 3 in 4 are far more concerned
>> with who gets to fake-wed the fake-bachelorette this season, or who is the
>> victor of Dancing with the Stars.
>>
>>   *Roughly a quarter (27%) of Americans say they are following news
>> about the government collecting Verizon phone records very closely. This is
>> a relatively modest level of public interest.  Only another 21% say they
>> are following this fairly closely, while about half say they are following
>> not too (17%) or not at all (35%) closely.*
>>
>>
>>
>> Interest in reports about the government tracking of e-mail and online
>> activities is almost identical: 26% say they are following this story very
>> closely, 33% not closely at all.
>>
>>
>>
>> Attention to these stories is higher among Republicans and
>> Republican-leaning independents: 32% are following reports about the
>> government tracking phone records very closely, compared with 24% of
>> Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents. The partisan gap in interest
>> is almost identical when it comes to reports about government collecting
>> email and other online information: 30% of Republicans and
>> Republican-leaners are following very closely compared with 20% of
>> Democrats and Democratic-leaners.
>>
>>
>>
>> Overall, those who disagree with the government’s data monitoring are
>> following the reports somewhat more closely than those who support them.
>> Among those who find the government’s tracking of phone records to be
>> unacceptable, 31% are following the story very closely, compared with 21%
>> among those who say it is acceptable. Similarly with respect to reports
>> about government monitoring of email and online activities, 28% of those
>> who say this should not be done are following the news very closely,
>> compared with 23% of those who approve of the practice.
>>
>> Those who wish to be even more depressed can read on here<http://www.people-press.org/2013/06/10/majority-views-nsa-phone-tracking-as-acceptable-anti-terror-tactic/>.
>>
>>
>> As for Edward Snowden, hopefully this will teach you to throw away your
>> life to liberate a bloated and apathetic society that couldn't care less if
>> the slaughter-gate was slammed shut behind it, and just wants to have its
>> rose-colored blinders on in perpetuity.
>>  Average:
>> 4.52
>>    Your rating: None Average: 4.5 (25 votes)
>>
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>
>
> --
> Simon Ontoyin
> Director, Exigency Ghana Limited
> Email: exigencygh at gmail.com
> Tel:
>
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