This survey examined perceptions of government surveillance programs. It found that younger respondents were less approving of Patriot Act surveillance compared to older generations. Those with higher education were more likely to believe surveillance violates civil liberties. Respondents familiar with technology also tended to disapprove of surveillance programs. The survey had some limitations, such as a college-aged sample, and future research could employ probability sampling and focus questions on specific surveillance aspects.

1. Perceptions on Government Surveillance
Alan Delgado, Henry Bulmer, Josiah Rand
“I can't in good conscience allow the U.S.
government to destroy privacy, internet freedom
and basic liberties for people around the world with
this massive surveillance machine they're secretly
building.” -Edward Snowden
“The Patriot Act closed dangerous gaps in
America’s law enforcement and intelligence
capabilities, gaps that terrorists exploited when they
attacked us” -George W. Bush

2. Overview
I. Background on Government Surveillance
II. Areas of Study
III. Description of Survey
IV. Demographic Findings
V. Alan’s FIndings
VI. Josiah’s Findings
VII.Henry’s Findings

3. Brief Look at Government Surveillance
- The 4th Amendment
- The 4th amendment provides protection from “unreasonable searches and seizures” unless
there is a search warrant based upon probable cause.
- Also provides an implicit right to privacy which is generally agreed to be “the right against
undue government intrusion into fundamental personal issues and decisions”.
- The Patriot Act
- Includes the internet under pen register laws meaning “dialing, routing, addressing or
signaling information” or emails and other online means of communication are available under
court order not a search warrant (Kerr 2003).
- Allowed for seizure of stored voicemails via a search warrant rather than surveillance warrant.

4. Areas of Study
- According to a Gallup conducted in 2003 about 69% of people surveyed
supported the Patriot act. This declined to 64% in 2004.
- The aim of our research was to see if the Patriot Act was still widely
supported as well as gauge support of electronic surveillance in general. We
focused specifically on how support levels based off the following traits:
- Age
- Levels of Education
- Familiarity with Technology

5. Description of Survey
Title of Survey: Perceptions on Privacy and Government Surveillance
- Comprised of 26 questions including 5 instances of skip logic and
3 open ended questions.
- Surveys started 143, surveys completed 130, giving us a
response rate of 91%.
- Distribution method was online through Qualtrics.
- The survey provided no explicit definitions of the NSA or Patriot
Act but included skip logic so that participants unfamiliar with
them would not be forced to give an opinion about them.

6. Sampling Method
Convenience Sampling
Desperation Sampling
Snowball Sampling
Non-Probability Sampling
In addition to facebook posts we
also directly asked friends,
classmates and colleagues to fill
out our survey.

7. Demographic Information
Education Level
-Highest
- Associate (56.93%, n=78)
-Lowest
- Middle School/Below (0.73%,
n=1)
Familiarity with Technology
- Responses to “How often
are you able to
troubleshoot your own
computer problems”
- Highest
Usually (48%, n= 60)
Highest response category
was millennials (79%, n=109)
Lowest response category
was greatest generation (0%,
n=0)

8. Age and Approval of Government Surveillance
Independent Variable: Age (question #3)
Which generation do you belong to?
a) Generation Z (born 2001-present)
b) Millennial (born 1884-2000)
c) Generation X (born 1965-1983
d) Baby Boomer (born 1946-1965)
e) Greatest Generation (born 1901-1945)

9. Age and Government Surveillance
Dependent Variable:
#16 From what you know, do
you think the govn’t
surveillance programs (i.e. via
internet, drones, phones,
wiretapping) violate your civil
liberties?
a)Yes
b)No
c) Unsure

10. Findings on Age
With a P-value of 0.78, there is no statistical significance.
It was observed that as the respondents became younger, they were more likely
to disapprove of Patriot Act government surveillance than their older
counterparts who had higher ratings of approval.
Speculatively, it seems there is a positive direction of association because as
age goes up, so does the approval rating, which coincides with my initial
hypothesis that older people are more likely to support Patriot Act activities
than younger people.

11. Hypothesis
- The higher one’s education level the more likely, he or she is to support
government surveillance programs.
- Dependant Variable: Education Level
- Independent Variable: Support of Government Surveillance

12. Findings for Education Level
“From what you know, do you
think the government’s
surveillance programs (i.e. via
the internet, drones, wiretapping,
etc.) violate your civil liberties?”
- P value < .05 indicating
statistical significance
- Positive direction of
association between level
of education and belief
that government
surveillance violates civil
rights

13. Hypothesis
- People who are more familiar with technology will be more likely to be
opposed to government surveillance
- Dependent Variables: Familiarity with technology
- Independent Variable: Support of Government Surveillance

14. Findings for Familiarity with Technology
“From what you know, do you think the
government’s surveillance programs (i.e.
via the internet, drones, phones,
wiretapping, etc.) violate your civil
liberties?”
- P value < .05 indicating statistical
significance
- Positive direction of association
between familiarity with technology
and belief that government
surveillance violates civil rights
- Possibly skewed findings on socio
economic status

15. Recommendations for Future Research
- Potential failings in our research:
- High concentration of college aged students(18-30).
- Poor responses to open ended and question including other.
- Other pitfalls associated with non-probability sampling.
- Recommendations for Future Research
- Use probability sampling, specifically true random sampling, to get an
accurate representation of the population.
- Focus the questions on specific aspects of government surveillance and
take an index to measure an overall view on privacy rights

16. References
Americans Generally Comfortable With Patriot Act. (n.d.). Retrieved May 05,
2016, from http://www.gallup.com/poll/10858/americans-generally-comfortable-
patriot-act.aspx
Fourth Amendment. (n.d.). Retrieved May 05, 2016, from
https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/fourth_amendment
Kerr, O. S. (2003). Internet surveillance law after the USA PATRIOT Act: the big
brother that isn't. Northwestern University Law Review, 97, 2, 607-673.