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Poll finds 49 percent of Americans see spy program leak as positive

WASHINGTON, June 18 (UPI) -- More Americans view the recent leak of classified information about U.S. spying as positive than those who view it as harmful, a poll indicates.

A telephone survey conducted this month by the Pew Research Center and USA Today found that 49 percent of those queried think the leak about phone and Internet surveillance by the National Security Agency serves the public interest compared to 44 percent who hold the opposite view.

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At the same time more than half of respondents, 54 percent, want the government to pursue a criminal case against the person responsible for leaking the classified information about the NSA program.

In the case of young people, Pew found that a whopping 60 percent think the NSA leak serves the public interest compared to 34 percent who rated it as harmful.

The poll was conducted June 12-16 among 1,512 adults living in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. It carries a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.

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