According to data from the Pew Research Center, 50% of Americans approve of the NSA's actions as part of the government's efforts against terrorism.
The survey was conducted by Pew between July 17 and 21, six weeks after the Edward Snowden leaks that exposed the activities of the US government and the PRISM program .
The approval rating from Americans is very high (50% approve and 44% disapprove) and is the biggest surprise that the survey presents to us.
Other interesting data from the survey are the following:
- Only 18% believe that data collection is limited to metadata.
- 22% believe that the program is limited to fighting terrorism.
- 30% believe that courts provide adequate limits on what can be collected.
From the above, it appears that the American public does not believe what the American government has stated regarding PRISM, nor that its citizens are adequately protected by their courts.
Indeed, 63% believe that the NSA “reads” all email content and “listens” to phone calls despite President Obama’s insistence that “Nobody listens to your phone calls.”.
Of course, the survey results reflect the vote in the US Congress last week, when the House of Representatives voted by a narrow majority (50% to 47%) to continue funding the NSA.
The results of the survey were provided by Sophos.
