These are the topline results of a YouGov/Huffington Post survey of 1000 US adults interviewed October 29-30, 2013 on government oversight. The results show that a majority of Americans do not think that federal courts and rules provide adequate oversight on what data the government can collect about Americans. The margin of error is 4.6%.
Click here to see full tables and demographic crossbreaks
Do you think federal courts and rules put in place by Congress provide adequate oversight on what telephone and internet data the government can collect about Americans?
Yes, they do provide adequate oversight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17%
No, they do not provide adequate oversight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54%
Not sure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29%
Do you think federal courts and rules put in place by Congress provide adequate oversight on what telephone and internet data the government can collect about foreigners?
Yes, they do provide adequate oversight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20%
No, they do not provide adequate oversight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48%
Not sure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32%
How much have you heard about allegations about the U.S. government tracking millions of phone calls in countries that are U.S. allies, including calls to and from German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s phone?
Heard a lot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43%
Heard a little . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44%
Heard nothing at all . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13%
Overall, would you say that U.S. programs tracking phone calls of foreigners living in countries that are U.S. allies have mostly helped or mostly hurt U.S. interests abroad?
Mostly helped . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14%
Mostly hurt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47%
Neither helped nor hurt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17%
Not sure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22%
Based on what you’ve heard, how involved would you say Pres. Obama has been in the U.S. programs tracking phone calls of foreigners living in countries that are U.S. allies?
He directed the programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23%
He knew about the programs, but did not direct them . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45%
He didn’t know about the programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8%
Not sure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24%
Based on what you’ve heard,how involved would you say Pres. Obama has been in U.S. programs collecting phone and internet data of U.S. citizens?
He directed the programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26%
He knew about the programs, but did not direct them . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46%
He didn’t know about the programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5%
Not sure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22%
