Americans Still Guard Telephone, E-mail Privacy - Study

[R. A. Hettinga]

http://www.newsbytes.com/cgi-bin/udt/im.display.printable?client.id=newsbytes&story.id=170291


 	Americans Still Guard Telephone, E-mail Privacy - Study

By Michael Bartlett, Newsbytes
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A.,
19 Sep 2001, 5:38 PM CST
  Last week's terrorist attacks have prompted a few Americans to say they
are more willing to trade some personal privacy for security, according to
a new study.

However, while some respondents told the Pew Research Center they generally
supported the concept of sacrificing some civil liberties in order to try
to curb terrorism, when asked specifically about increased government
monitoring of personal telephone calls or e-mails, most balked.

The study found 70 percent of Americans oppose giving away the right to
private communications via phone or e-mail. Twenty-six percent said they
were in favor of the idea, with 4 percent in the "don't know" category.

The Pew Research center surveyed U.S. 1,200 adults from Sept. 13-17 for
this study.

Elizabeth Gross, the special projects director for the Pew Research Center,
said compared to previous polls from the past decade, the latest study
shows a few more Americans are willing to allow the government to
eavesdrop. She said in the wake of last week's terrorist attacks, some
people are willing to trade some personal freedoms for security.

As an example, Gross cited a 1994 Gallup poll, which found 79 percent of
Americans felt all telephone conversations should be kept private. "Even
though the question was phrased differently, the drop from 79 percent in
that poll to 70 percent in our poll is enough of a change to be
meaningful," she said.

In 1997, only 29 percent of respondents told Pew Research that civil
liberties should be sacrificed to curb terrorism, with 62 percent opposed.
In the most recent study, those numbers shifted to 55 percent yes, 35
percent no.

"That is a huge leap," said Gross. "But remember, when asked specifically
about things like monitoring e-mail, people were less willing."

A 1995 Pew study found that 44 percent of people were concerned the U.S.
government would enact laws to stop terrorists that would "excessively
restrict" civil liberties. In this week's study, only 34 percent said they
were concerned about this. "Again, you see a 10 percent drop," Gross said.

Respondents were somewhat less opposed to increased monitoring of credit
cards as a way of reducing terrorism, the study said. Forty percent were in
favor, 55 percent against and 5 percent did not know.

The Pew study also examined how people are getting their news about the
terrorist attacks. Ninety percent of Americans said television was their
primary source of information, with radio, newspapers and the Internet
trailing far behind. Gross said this disparity is not surprising, and she
expects it to change in the days and weeks to come.

"TV is swamping everything else because it is such a visual story. Everyone
tuned in during the first few days to see the footage of planes crashing
and buildings burning," she said. "People could not turn away from the TV.
As the story plays out, and a military response makes things more
complicated, you might see people turning to the Web."

"For those inclined to turning to the Web for news, the transition started
this week," she added.

The study found that one-third of all Americans, and half of Internet
users, go online for news updates about the attacks and possible
retaliation.

The Pew Research Center is at http://www.pewinternet.org .

Reported by Newsbytes.com, http://www.newsbytes.com .

17:38 CST

(20010919/Press Contact: Andy Kohut, Pew Research Center, 202-293-3126,
ext. 15 /WIRES ONLINE, LEGAL, TELECOM, BUSINESS/PRIVACY/PHOTO)

© 2001 The Washington Post Company

-- 
-----------------
R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'



---------------------------------------------------------------------
The Cryptography Mailing List
Unsubscribe by sending "unsubscribe cryptography" to majordomo at wasabisystems.com