US, EU Citizens Reject Unchecked Spying

A majority of Europeans and Americans are strongly opposed to their governments’ covert surveillance of their own residents and those of allied countries, according to a recent poll that comes as spying revelations brought to light by Edward Snowden continue to shock the world.

According to a survey, conducted by the U.S.-based think-tank the German Marshall Fund of the United States, far more citizens disapprove of the dragnet spying techniques of their governments than those that approve—with the most overwhelming figures coming from Germany.

In response to the question “Do you think the [own country] government is justified in collecting the telephone and internet data of its citizens as part of the effort to protect national security, or do you think this activity goes too far in violating citizens’ privacy and is therefore not justified?” 70 percent of Germans said their government is not justified. Only twenty-five percent disagreed.

And, as Reuters reports, “Germans were even more hostile to governments collecting the telephone and internet data of people from allied countries, with 72 percent opposed and 20 percent in favor.”

Meanwhile, 54 percent of those polled in the U.S. said the U.S. government should not spy on its own citizens. And 44 percent opposed spying on the citizens of allied countries with 33 percent saying it was justified.