A majority of Americans – 56% – say that federal courts fail to provide adequate limits on the telephone and internet data the government is collecting as part of its anti-terrorism efforts. An even larger percentage (70%) believes that the government uses this data for purposes other than investigating terrorism. […] Read more »
Attitudes Shift Against Snowden; Fewer than Half Say NSA is Unjustified
Public attitudes have shifted against Edward Snowden, with more than half of Americans now supporting criminal charges against the former security contractor who’s disclosed details of surveillance by the U.S. National Security Agency. And while most doubt that the NSA’s efforts enhance security, most also don’t see them as unjustified […] Read more »
2013 First Amendment Survey: First Amendment Goes Too Far
One third of Americans, 34 percent, thinks the First Amendment goes too far in the rights it guarantees, according to the 2013 State of the First Amendment national survey that was released July 16. That number is up from 13 percent from 2012, the largest single-year increase in the history […] Read more »
Poll Shows Complexity of Debate on Trade-offs in Government Spying Programs
… While both Republicans and Democrats in Congress have labeled Mr. Snowden a traitor, the American public apparently disagrees. In a national poll from Quinnipiac University released Wednesday, voters said by 55 percent to 34 percent that he was a whistle-blower, not a traitor. The poll showed that the view […] Read more »
Public Opinion Shifts on Security-Liberty Balance
A new Quinnipiac poll has found a significant shift in public opinion on the trade-off between civil liberties and national security. … We generally caution against reading too much into a single poll result. But there are several reasons to think that the shift detected by the Quinnipiac poll is […] Read more »
Have we been Snowdened?
… Americans seem divided about Edward Snowden and, as in many situations in which opinions are weakly held, different questions produce different answers. [cont.] Mark Mellman (Mellman Group), The Hill Recent polls: Snowden, surveillance and security Read more »