A Harris Poll conducted in late July, before news of a terrorist plot to blow up U.S.-bound airplanes broke, found that large majorities of U.S. adults support strong surveillance measures when dealing with suspected terrorist activities. Given that this poll was conducted prior to the British arresting people suspected of a plot to blow up planes between the U.S. and the U.K., it is possible that opinions about government surveillance in the U.S. may have changed.

This Harris Poll found that when law enforcement agencies are investigating terrorism:


-- 70 percent of all adults favor "expanded camera surveillance on streets and in public places" - something which is currently more widespread in Britain than the United States.

-- 61 percent favor "closer monitoring of banking and credit card transactions".

-- 62 percent favor "law enforcement monitoring of Internet chat rooms and other forums."

-- While the public was still divided on whether the government should expand the "monitoring of cell phones and email," a modest 52 percent to 46 percent majority supported it. In February, a modest 55 percent to 44 percent majority had opposed it.

These are the results of a nationwide Harris Poll of 1,000 U.S. adults surveyed by telephone by Harris Interactive(R) between July 21 and 24, 2006.

While most of these majorities favoring tougher surveillance are substantial, it is important to note that most U.S. adults do not believe that activities such as these should be done without congressional authorization. Less than four in 10 adults said that the president should be able to authorize any of the following by executive order without congressional approval:


-- Collecting the records of telephone calls made inside, or into, the United States (38%)

-- Monitoring cell phone and email (35%)

-- Monitoring international financial transactions (35%)

-- Monitoring the content of Internet discussions (31%)

Other interesting findings in this survey include:

-- A modest 54 percent to 45 percent majority gave President Bush negative ratings on fighting terrorism. (These results may be partly a "halo effect" of the President's negative job rating. However, it is possible that this may have changed since the arrests in Britain.)

-- A 50 percent to 42 percent plurality believed that the government's programs for investigating terrorist activities strike the right balance between investigating terrorism and protecting civil liberties.

-- While only 47 percent of adults were even somewhat familiar with the Federal Government's analysis of millions of telephone traffic records, most people (by 60% to 35%) support this program when they are told about it.

Harris Interactive asked Dr. Alan Westin, the noted authority on privacy issues, and the publisher of Privacy and American Business, to review these findings. According to Dr. Westin, "Since 9/11, the Bush Administration has maintained that it has the constitutional mandate to conduct a wide range of anti-terrorist surveillance operations under the president's own executive authority. While majorities continue to support these investigative programs as necessary, 59% to 66% of Americans now feel that such programs should be done 'only with Congressional authorization.' This reflects the historic American belief that serious intrusions into the civil liberties of individuals -- even when justified -- need Congressional standards and oversight, to guard against potential abuses and over-reaching by the executive branch."