Poll: Only 7% (!) of Americans Support Private Companies Selling Personal Data Without Permission

More proof that the average American — John Doe, if you will — is smarter than he’s given credit for by the elites:

American voters do not want private companies to be allowed to compile and sell data about people without permission, a new poll shows.

In a Hill-HarrisX survey of 1,000 registered voters, only 7 percent expressed support for the current U.S. privacy system which allows companies to sell adults’ personal data without permission or compensation to those affected.

Thirty-six percent of those polled say there is no scenario imaginable to them in which it’s OK for companies to collect and sell such information. Read that again: one-third of those asked always oppose companies like Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, and Google collecting and selling such data. Another 36% said they can support the collection and selling of personal data if the individuals involved are compensated for it.

Only 21% say they believe companies should be able to collect and sell personal information of users if they’ve expressly asked for permission. As for selling and collecting it without permission:

Eight percent of Republicans and also Democratic respondents said that firms should be allowed to sell information without permission. Seven percent of independents agreed.

In other words, this is a bipartisan issue, which makes perfect sense. After all, this issue affects all of us, whether we are conservative or liberal.

It also signifies something else, though: increasingly more voters realize that Big Business poses as big of a threat to individual liberty (and security) as Big Government. The reason this is so? Simple: they know more about us than any government — even the most dictatorial government in history! — ever knew… and they’re more than willing to use that knowledge to a) enrich themselves and b) silence us.