Most Americans concerned about privacy, personal information being sold

NewsWorks Tonight host Dave Heller sits down for his weekly conversation with Gallup's Frank Newport to talk about trends in U.S. opinion.

Listen 4:15
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg drinks water while testifying before a House Energy and Commerce hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington,Wednesday about the use of Facebook data to target American voters in the 2016 election and data privacy. (Andrew Harnik/AP Photo)

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg drinks water while testifying before a House Energy and Commerce hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington,Wednesday about the use of Facebook data to target American voters in the 2016 election and data privacy. (Andrew Harnik/AP Photo)

NewsWorks Tonight host Dave Heller sits down for his weekly conversation with Gallup’s Frank Newport to talk about trends in U.S. opinion.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified before Congress this week as concerns about privacy and what happens to Facebook data continue to mount. Based on a new survey,  43 percent of Facebook users are very concerned about invasion of their privacy, That’s up from 30 percent when the question was first posed in 2011. An even higher 55 percent are very concerned about their personal information being sold to others.

Special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating President Donald Trump and his campaign, is much more popular with Americans than the president. The latest survey found that Mueller has a net favorable over unfavorable rating of more than 10 percent, while Trump is underwater by about the same margin.

 

Meanwhile, Melania Trump is holding on to a remarkably positive image; well over half of Americans view her favorably.

Tuesday is Tax Day. The latest update on Americans’ views of their taxes finds fewer say that they pay too much in taxes, and more say they pay about the right amount. That could reflect the impact of the new tax law;  taken as a whole, however, the tax law is still viewed negatively.

To hear the full conversation, listen to the audio above.

WHYY is your source for fact-based, in-depth journalism and information. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on financial support from readers like you. Please give today.

Want a digest of WHYY’s programs, events & stories? Sign up for our weekly newsletter.

Together we can reach 100% of WHYY’s fiscal year goal