Americans Fear Government Will Use NSA Data Against Political Opponents

More than half of American voters fear the government will use National Security Agency data to harass political opponents, according to a newly-released Rasmussen Reports poll. Fifty-seven percent of Americans said it was very likely or somewhat likely the NSA data would be used to harass political opponents. Thirty percent said the scenario would be somewhat unlikely or very unlikely.

There is already little support for the NSA's surveillance program. Reports surfaced earlier in June about the Obama administration collecting millions of telephone records from U.S. Verizon customers. The Obama administration defended collecting the records, saying the collection of phone records was a necessary safeguard against terrorism.

Sixty percent of voters said it's better to collect phone records of people suspected of having terrorist connections rather than collect the phone records of millions of ordinary Americans. Only 26 percent said it was necessary to collect the phone records of millions of ordinary Americans.

The poll also found nearly 75 percent of Americans believe the government should be required to show a judge the reason for monitoring the phone calls of specific Americans. Only 17 percent said it would be OK for a judge to authorize the routine monitoring of millions of Americans.

Americans have been paying attention to the government's surveillance programs -- 82 percent have been following the news reports about the NSA surveillance scandal either very closely or somewhat closely.