Majority Of People Agree Trump Administration Threatens Online Privacy

New research highlights privacy concerns as FBI and CIA come under increasing pressure for crackdown on data encryption

London.  Over 50% of UK and US citizens feel that online data privacy is less secure since President Trump was elected according to new research from Artmotion, the Swiss-based data centre provider. These findings come following FBI Director James Comey’s declaration last week that “there is no such thing as absolute privacy in America”.

With the CIA also under pressure following the latest revelations regarding its efforts to circumvent online encryption methods, this new research suggests that citizens are rapidly, and perhaps rightly, losing faith in the US government’s ability to protect online privacy.

The survey of over 500 people also found that nearly a quarter of (24%) US citizens are now most fearful of their own government when it comes to online surveillance, compared to 20% that said Russia was their biggest concern and 15% that said China. This is a significant shift from Artmotion’s previous research in 2015 when both China and Russia were considered bigger threats by US citizens.

Mateo Meier, CEO of Artmotion and data security expert, commented: “Considering the sheer volume of data that is physically stored on American soil, the revelations of the past week have been extremely troubling. And it seems that it is no longer just security experts that are concerned. Now the majority of average citizens also agree with our assessment that if you store your data in the US there is no guarantee that the information will remain private and secure.

“It remains to be seen how far US government agencies will go in clamping down on data encryption, but based on Comey’s statement it does not look like they are going to relent.

“When it comes to keeping data truly private, people and businesses need to think far more carefully about where they put their data. Countries beyond the jurisdiction of the US government can offer far greater levels of data privacy and security.”