Globe demands barriers to US spying, poll shows

People around the world are suspicious of U.S. spying and want major tech companies to build digital barriers to protect their data, according to a new global poll.

The survey from Amnesty International — which is critical of the government surveillance – found that 71 percent of respondents oppose the U.S.’s monitoring of people on the Internet.

{mosads}Additionally, 60 percent said that major tech companies like Google, Apple and Yahoo should “secure communications in a way that prevents governments from accessing users’ data.”

Those companies have faced off against the government in recent weeks, as Obama administration officials have demanded that they create vulnerabilities in their encryption to allow the FBI or other agencies to obtain people’s information.

Edward Snowden’s revelations about the National Security Agency’s (NSA) powers have had an especially large impact overseas, where many people have turned away from American Internet services in an effort to avoid the spy agency. To reassure their customers, many companies have begun to eye new encryption methods to automatically safeguard their communications.   

The survey’s findings show that those fears aren’t going away. They also indicate a lingering diplomatic headache for the administration, which it has been suffering since the Snowden leaks nearly two years ago.

The survey questioned 15,000 people in 13 countries across every continent in the world, including Germany, Brazil, New Zealand and South Africa.

Amnesty International has been a vocal critic of the NSA’s operations.

Earlier this year, the organization joined the Wikimedia Foundation, Human Rights Watch and other organizations in a new lawsuit against one of the agency’s Web surveillance programs.