Poll: Gov not very effective at sharing data

Only a tiny sliver of the public — 5 percent — believes the government is very effective at sharing data, according to a Pew Research poll released Tuesday.  

Another 39 percent believe the federal government is somewhat effective at sharing information with the public, while the same number said it is not very effective. Another 15 percent said it is “not at all effective.”

{mosads}Those numbers correspond to people’s low level of trust in government. Only 23 percent of people said they trust the federal government most of the time. Another 56 percent said they trust the government only some of the time. Nineteen percent said they never trust the government. 

While majorities of people believe opening up more data to the public would help journalists and make officials more accountable, more people than not believe it would not result in better decision making by elected officials. 

People are equally split on whether opening up more data would improve government services or allow people to have more of an impact. 

A total of 65 percent of people have used the Internet in the past year to find information pertaining to the government. 

Most people did so to complete routine tasks like renew a driver’s license, learn how to apply for government benefits or pay some type of fine. A slightly larger percentage used government websites to learn about recreational activities sponsored by the government. 

The poll surveyed 3,212 U.S. adults late last year. It holds a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percent.