Canadian poll shows split on whether it’s OK for gov’t to spy on citizens online

TORONTO – An online poll found Canadian respondents were split on whether it’s appropriate for governments to monitor email and Internet activities.

The poll commissioned by the Canadian Internet Registration Authority found about 49 per cent of respondents said they believed it was “completely unacceptable” for governments to snoop on its citizens.

About 47 per cent of those surveyed said it was “acceptable in some circumstances” and about four per cent said it was “completely acceptable.”

When asked if government surveillance would be appropriate if it could prevent terrorist attacks, about 77 per cent said it was acceptable.

About 39 per cent of those polled indicated they believed they were already being monitored by the government in some way, while about 15 per cent didn’t believe that to be true. About 46 per cent weren’t sure either way.

The poll of 1,134 Canadians was conducted by Ipsos Reid between July 24 and 28.

The polling industry’s professional body, the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association, says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population.

The Canadian Internet Registration Authority, which commissioned the poll, manages the .ca domain name registry and says it works to develop policies “that support Canada’s Internet community.”