Americans Deeply Split Over Government Spying Programs: Poll

A new poll finds Americans have divergent opinions on whether it is all right for the government to track telephone records in the name of fighting terrorism.

A majority of respondents, 56 percent, said the National Security Agency’s recently disclosed database of call logs is acceptable, yet a “substantial minority” of 41 percent say it’s unacceptable, according to a national survey conducted June 6-9 by the Pew Research Center and The Washington Post among 1,000 adults.

The poll, Pew says, “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.”

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