A large majority of Americans say the federal government should focus on investigating possible terrorist threats even if personal privacy is compromised, and most support the blanket tracking of telephone records in an effort to uncover terrorist activity, according to a new Washington Post-Pew Research Center poll. [cont.] Jon Cohen, […] Read more »
Lawmakers Work To Gauge Public Mood On NSA And Leaker
When it comes to secrets leaker Edward Snowden and the National Security Agency’s phone records and Internet snooping, some in Congress face a dilemma. Namely, how to read public opinion. [cont.] Frank James, NPR News Recent polls: Counter-terrorism and surveillance Read more »
Majority Views NSA Phone Tracking as Acceptable Anti-terror Tactic
A majority of Americans – 56% – 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, though a substantial minority – 41% – say it is unacceptable. And while the public is more evenly […] Read more »
Of Slippery Slopes
… By 2011, only 25 percent of those polled were willing to have their civil liberties violated while 71 percent were not. More recently, following the Boston bombings, there was bit of a relapse; a CNN/Time/ORC International survey found that 40 percent of respondents were willing to give up civil […] Read more »
Mass Surveillance in America: A Timeline of Loosening Laws and Practices
On Wednesday, the Guardian published a secret court order requiring Verizon to hand over data for all the calls made on its network on an “ongoing, daily basis.” Other revelations about surveillance of phone and digital communications have followed. That the National Security Agency has engaged in such activity isn’t […] Read more »
Benghazi: Majority thinks administration is hiding something
Amid investigations into the terrorist attacks on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, a majority of Americans – including more than three in four Republicans (77 percent) and six in 10 independents (59 percent) – think the Obama administration is mostly hiding something on the issue of Benghazi. A majority […] Read more »