On the first anniversary of the NSA leaks by Edward Snowden, people united on the Internet to “reset the net” by taking steps to directly block mass surveillance. The changes made will effect 3 billion emails each month, 500,000 users each month, 187 million blogs and 14.5 billion web pages. The American public agrees NSA spying has gone to far. USA Today reports “By nearly 3-1, 70%-26%, Americans say they shouldn’t have to give up privacy and freedom in order to be safe from terrorism.? The Electronic Frontier Foundation summarizes the polls writing:
Polls continue to confirm the trend. In a poll conducted in December 2013 by the Washington Post, 66% of Americans were concerned “about the collection and use of [their] personal information by the National Security Agency.” Americans aren’t only concerned about the collection. A recent Pew poll found—yet again—that a majority of Americans oppose the government’s collection of phone and Internet data as a part of anti-terrorism efforts.
Since Americans are both concerned with, and opposed to, the spying, it’s no surprise that they also want reform. In a November 2013 poll by Anzalone Liszt Grove Research,1 59% of respondents noted that they wanted surveillance reform and 63% said they wanted more oversight of the spying programs. While these polls focused on the larger population of Americans, a Harvard University Insitute of Politics poll focusing on younger Americans (aged 18-29 years old) reaffirmed younger Americans are both wary of the NSA’s activities and that a majority do not want the government to collect personal information about them.
Below is an infographic published by Fight for the Future summarizing Reset The Net’s impact.
