The Prism effect

Background

Latest released documents revealed that NSA (National Security Agency) as part of an undisclosed program called Prism project obtained direct access to the systems of Google, Facebook and other big Internet companies which allowed officials to collect user data such as live chats, search history and others.

Purpose of survey

How does latest news about Prism project impact the way users trust social media.

Key Results :

From those that knew what Prism project is, 75.3% of them believe that it actually exists. From those that didn’t know what Prism project is, 5 out of 10 believe that the government has access to all of their Internet data anyway

In general, people that knew about Prism project are more willing to quit social networks or their exposure to them in the near future. In addition they would be interested even to pay for an alternative social network option that will respect their data privacy.

More specifically:

  • From those that knew what Prism project is, 75.3% of them believe that it actually exists.
  • From those that didn’t know what Prism project is, 5 out of 10 (49.1%) believe that the government has access to all of their Internet data anyway
  • In the question “Do you think that the government has the right to access all your personal information for security reasons?”, only 27.7% from those that knew what Prism project is, tolerate this kind of behavior while from those that didn’t know what Prim project is, 44.5% tolerate that
  • From those that knew what Prism project is, 7 out 10 will reduce the exposure of their personal information on the Internet in the near future while only 5 out of 10 from those that didn’t know are willing to do the same.
  • 57.8% From those that knew what Prism project is, are going to quit big social networks like Facebook and Google+ in the near future while only 29.1% from those that didn’t know are willing to do so
  • 47.5% From those that knew what Prism project is, are willing to pay for a social network that will not violate their privacy and is Ad-free while from those who didn’t only 25.2% are willing to do so

Survey Audience:

Prism effect survey was conducted on a global scale between 8th-12th of June 2013 without using specific targeting options, among 594 randomly selected Internet users .

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