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Unfortunately, the people don't get a say in this. At all. We vote on politicians, not policies.

• tptacek 8y ago
  In 2015, Pew polled people on this and there was a near 50/50 split on support for telephonic surveillance, and slightly more Americans believed that security was more important than civil liberties and that NSA hadn't gone far enough to protect them. If the people had a direct say in policy, there's little evidence they'd go the way you want them to.
  • tomjakubowski 8y ago
    "was a near 50/50 split on support for telephonic surveillance" https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/05/29/what-americans-think-about-nsa-surveillance-national-security-and-privacy/ https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/05/29/what-americ... > A majority of Americans (54%) disapprove of the U.S. government’s collection of telephone and internet data as part of anti-terrorism efforts, while 42% approve of the program. There was a gap of twelve percentage points between approval and disapproval.
  • craftinator 8y ago
    Thank you for the research! I wouldn't necessarily compare a poll to a vote, but it's a good starting point.
  • luckylion 8y ago
    There's always the problem of information. I'm certain that basically no citizens know enough about the NSA, the surveillance capabilities and extent of data collection etc to make an informed decision. So they're not really polling what people believe - they're polling what the media companies think which people get their information from.