Edward Snowden quickly became a household name when it was revealed that he was the one who blew the whistle on the NSA’s PRISM project which ultimately led to more reports and revelations published in what has been dubbed the “Snowden Reports”. In the wake of that, many companies started to declare their transparency and more reports have surfaced, revealing that government requests for user data is actually on the rise. That being said with all these revelations, has it affected the way you conduct yourself online? Has it changed the way you share information?
New worldwide survey results conducted by a Canadian think tank show that most people around the world (60 percent) have heard of Edward Snowden, but just over a third have “have taken steps to protect their online privacy and security as a result of his revelations.” The study, which was released Monday by the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), surveyed over 23,000 people in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Poland, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Tunisia, Turkey, and the United States. The survey did not break out respondents by nationality. The figures varied widely: 94 percent of Germans surveyed heard of the National Security Agency whistleblower, while only 76 percent of Americans had. Kenya rounded out the bottom of the list at 14 percent. Globally, this resulted in an average of 60 percent. Have the 14,000 people familiar with Snowden done anything with this knowledge? Some people have tried to learn more about encryption and other ways to improve security online. India led the pack in this area with 69 percent, followed by Mexico and China. Amongst Americans, only 36 percent of people took steps to protect privacy. The worldwide mean came in at 39 percent.
