It appears that in the battle for the hearts and minds of Americans the FBI and Apple are running neck and neck. While earlier polls indicated the majority of the public backed the FBI in their battle to force Apple to unlock an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll indicates registered voters now are close to evenly split over the issue.
CNET:
Overall, 47 percent said they feared the government wouldn’t go far enough in protecting national security, while 44 percent feared it would intrude too far into citizens’ privacy.
The poll asked respondents which scenario concerned them more: that the US won’t go far enough in monitoring terror suspects’ communications, or that the government would go too far and violate the privacy of its citizens.
Republicans backed the government, 57% to 37%, respectively. Democrats were a little closer to an even split over the subject, with 50% worrying the government would go too far and 40% worried it wouldn’t go far enough.
Respondents who identified themselves as Independents backed Apple by a 2-to-1 margin, with 58% saying Apple shouldn’t cooperate with the FBI to unlock the iPhone, and 28% saying the Cupertino company should cooperate.
(Via 9to5Mac)
