[governance] Majority Of Americans Don't Mind Being Spied Upon, Pew Study Finds
Carlos A. Afonso
ca at cafonso.ca
Tue Jun 11 12:12:55 EDT 2013
Yes, it is a percentage of course, but this raises the question of what
is a suitable sample to measure the whims and opinions of about 300
million people. We have this ongoing discussion in BR (a country with
200 million folks) on polling samples regarding the national elections
we have every two years (a wonderful exacerbation of democracy).
Statistical techniques may assure us that they are capable of measuring
a universe by relatively very small samples (very very small in this
case: a thousand in 300 million). This may be true if, first of all, the
statistician running the poll is competent and absolutely neutral. Given
this, there is the sample definition model.
So anyone might have reasons to doubt the sampling polls. Reality
usually runs over perfect technical models, as is the case of the IPv6
transition, the case of frictionless mechanics and so on...
[]s fraternos
--c.a.
On 06/11/2013 12:24 PM, Chaitanya Dhareshwar wrote:
> It's a percentage Simon :)
>
>
> On Tue, Jun 11, 2013 at 8:49 PM, Simon Ontoyin <exigencygh at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Are you Kidding or what? 100 people?
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Jun 11, 2013 at 8:09 AM, Chaitanya Dhareshwar <
>> chaitanyabd at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> While there are discrete "yes", "no" and "dont know" options, we're
>>> likely to see a lot more support for a "don't care" option. Fair few people
>>> don't honestly care what goes on in the government. Also in the
>>> "Acceptable" and "Unacceptable", the choice of "Irrelevant" would garner a
>>> lot of attention. IMHO a lot of people just want to stay out of
>>> politics/government/conspiracy/etc - they just want to "not care" and treat
>>> it as "irrelevant".
>>>
>>> Given this choice, fair few people (at least 10-20% of those who voted
>>> under other categories, and maybe a 100% of those who abstained) would
>>> choose "don't care" or "irrelevant".
>>>
>>> Just my 2c.
>>>
>>> -C
>>>
>>>
>>> On Tue, Jun 11, 2013 at 6:18 PM, Riaz K Tayob <riaz.tayob at gmail.com>wrote:
>>>
>>>> Majority Of Americans Don't Mind Being Spied Upon, Pew Study Finds
>>>> [image: Tyler Durden's picture]<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.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> <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:
>>>>
>>>> <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
>>>> <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.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> <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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>>>
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>>
>>
>> --
>> Simon Ontoyin
>> Director, Exigency Ghana Limited
>> Email: exigencygh at gmail.com
>> Tel:
>>
>>
>
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