Support for Government Surveillance Programs Increases among U.S. Adults, but Many Still Worry About Civil Liberty Safeguards

Concern over terrorist threats has increased in the past year, and at the same time, U.S. adults’ support for government surveillance programs has increased. While a majority (57%) of U.S. adults feel U.S. law enforcement is using its expanded surveillance powers in a proper way, many adults also express concern over the security of civil liberty safeguards in the future.

Since September 2001, The Harris Poll^® has tracked this issue on seven separate occasions, and U.S. adults continue to show strong support for tough surveillance measures. As the survey reveals, support has increased since June 2005, possibly reflecting an increasing concern that there will be a major terrorist attack in the United States.

These are the results of a nationwide Harris Poll of 1,016 U.S. adults surveyed by telephone by Harris Interactive^® between February 7 and 14, 2006.

Some of the key findings from this survey include:

• Two-thirds (66%) of U.S. adults think that it is very (17%) or somewhat (49%) likely that there will be a major terrorist attack in the next 12 months. This is a significant increase from the 55 percent majority who felt this way in June 2005.
• Overall, when it comes to the possibility of terrorist threats, a 57 percent majority of adults feel that U.S. law enforcement is using its expanded surveillance powers in a proper way. While this is unchanged from last June, the percentage of those who feel that the expanded powers are not being used in a proper way has increased six percentage points since June to 40 percent. The percentage of those who say they are not sure has declined from eight percent in June to a current three percent.
• Furthermore, 63 percent U.S. adults feel that the government’s anti-terrorist programs have taken only a little or none of their own personal privacy away. However, about one in seven (14%) feels the programs have taken away quite a lot or a great deal of their own personal privacy, while 23 percent feel they have lost a moderate amount.

In regard to the increased powers of investigation that law enforcement agencies might use when dealing with people suspected of terrorist activity, majorities of adults favor six out of the seven proposals that were measured in this poll. The only proposal not receiving support from a majority of adults is the expanded government monitoring of cell phones and emails to intercept communications. Specifically, the survey finds that:

• Eighty-four percent of adults favor stronger document and physical security checks for travelers, a slight increase from June’s 81 percent.
• Over eight in 10 (82%) adults favor expanded undercover activity to penetrate groups under suspicion. This is up six percentage points from June.
• Two-thirds (67%) favor expanded camera surveillance on streets and in public places, which is up from the 59 percent in June.
• Two-thirds (66%) favor closer monitoring of banking and credit card transactions to trace funding sources; up four points from June.

• About two-thirds (64%) favor adoption of a national I.D. system for all U.S. citizens, up from 61 percent in June.
• Those who favor law enforcement monitoring of Internet discussions in chat rooms and other forums has increased from 57 percent in June to a current 60 percent.
• Those who favor expanded government monitoring of cell phones and email to intercept communications has increased to 44 percent. In June, 37 percent favored this.

While large percentages do favor various tough surveillance measures and assert that law enforcement is using its expanded powers in a proper way, many continue to have reservations that judges, law enforcement agencies, Congress and the White House may not safeguard these powers in hypothetical situations.

• Seventy-six percent of adults have moderate or high concern that judges who authorize investigations will not look closely enough at the justification of that surveillance.
• Three-quarters (75%) of adults have moderate or high concern that Congress will not include adequate safeguards for civil liberties when authorizing these increased powers.
• Seventy-five percent have moderate or high concern that the White House will not issue proper rules for legal due process for government surveillance programs. This represents a three-point increase from June 2005, when 72 percent expressed the same level of concern.
• Almost seven in 10 (68%) have moderate or high concern that law enforcements agencies will investigate legitimate political and social groups; unchanged from June.

Reflecting on these results, Dr. Alan F. Westin of Columbia University and president of Privacy and American Business states: "The 76 percent of the public who worries that judges will not look carefully enough into the justifications for anti-terrorist surveillance operations, and the 75 percent who expect Congress to set "adequate" civil liberties safeguards in these operations seem to be an important trend-line result in relation to the NSA’s warrantless surveillance program. It suggests to me that when Congress holds its hearings into the NSA program, there will be heavy public support for creating an updated process of judicial review for these surveillance activities, as long as such a new process does not threaten to hamstring effective monitoring."

"Here are some increased powers of investigation that law enforcement agencies might use when dealing with people suspected of terrorist activity, which would also affect our civil liberties. For each, please say if you would favor or oppose it."

Base: All Adults

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

"Now, here are some concerns that people might have about the way these increased powers might be used by law enforcement. Would you say you have high concern, moderate concern, not much concern, or no concern at all about each of the following possibilities?"

Base: All Adults

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

* Less than 0.5%.

"Overall, thinking about the possibility of terrorist threats, do you feel that U.S. law enforcement is using its expanded surveillance powers in a proper way, or not?"

Base: All Adults

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

"How likely do you think it is that there will be a major terrorist attack in this country in the next 12 months?"

Base: All Adults

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

* Less than 0.5%

"How much do you feel government anti-terrorist programs have taken your own personal privacy away since September 11, 2001?"

Base: All Adults

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

* Less than 0.5%

The Harris Poll^® was conducted by telephone within the United States between February 7 and 14, 2006 among a nationwide cross section of 1,016 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race, education, number of adults, number of voice/telephone lines in the household, region and size of place were weighted where necessary to align them with their actual proportions in the population.

In theory, with a probability sample of this size, one can say with 95 percent certainty that the results have a sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points of what they would be if the entire U.S. adult population had been polled with complete accuracy. Unfortunately, there are several other possible sources of error in all polls or surveys that are probably more serious than theoretical calculations of sampling error. They include refusals to be interviewed (nonresponse), question wording and question order, interviewer bias, weighting by demographic control data and screening (e.g., for likely voters). It is impossible to quantify the errors that may result from these factors.

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