In the decade after September 11, 2001, the pendulum of public sentiment swung too far to the security pole; but it has begun to swing back in the absence of major new terrorist attacks. A recent ABC News-Washington Post poll showed that 39% of Americans now say that protecting privacy is more important than investigating terrorist threats, up from only 18% in 2002.
在2011年9月11日之后的十年中，民意的钟摆过多地朝安全倾斜；但在并未发生新的恐怖袭击的背景下，已经开始回弹。最新的ABC新闻台-《华盛顿邮报》民调显示，39%的美国人目前认为保护隐私比调查恐怖威胁更重要，而2002年只有18%。