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

Tue Jun 11 13:31:54 EDT 2013

The fundamental problem with these surveys now is that a very large and
rapidly growing segment of the population are not reachable as these surveys
are drawn from the numbers in telephone books.  So those with mobiles (and
the demographics that they represent) are very very significantly
underrepresented in these samples.  Various survey firms are desperately
trying to figure out how to correct for that but a couple of very
significant mismatches between survey results and electoral results in
Canada in the last year have really thrown into question the validity of
these kinds of studies.

(The other issue is of course, the question that was asked... Pew tends to
be quite straightforward in thieir surveys (questions) but a quick glance at
this one indicated that it was a forced choice between security and privacy
which, depending on other factors may not give a very useful insight into
what is more generally a spectrum/series of tradeoffs between more/less
security vs. more/less privacy.)

M

-----Original Message-----
From: governance-request at lists.igcaucus.org
[mailto:governance-request at lists.igcaucus.org] On Behalf Of Adam Peake
Sent: Tuesday, June 11, 2013 11:30 AM
To: governance at lists.igcaucus.org
Subject: Re: [governance] Majority Of Americans Don't Mind Being Spied Upon,
Pew Study Finds

http://www.people-press.org/2013/06/10/majority-views-nsa-phone-tracking-as-
acceptable-anti-terror-tactic/2/

ABOUT THE SURVEY
The analysis in this report is based on telephone interviews conducted June
6-9, 2013, among a national sample of 1,004 adults 18 years of age or older
living in the continental United States ... etc etc

Pew's considered good. 

Adam

On Jun 12, 2013, at 12:22 AM, Simon Ontoyin 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>
> Submitted by 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, 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>
> 
> 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>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>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>
> 
>  
> 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.
> 
> 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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