Americans are very worried about governments and private businesses tracking their online behavior in the post-Snowden era, a new report from the Pew Research Center found, and most want to do more to protect their privacy online.

Eight in 10 Americans believe the public should be concerned about the government's monitoring of phone calls and Internet communications according to a survey conducted by the organization in January. Some 61 percent said they "would like to do more" to protect the privacy of their personal information online.

And it's not just the government consumers worry about: Americans increasingly feel they aren't in control over how private companies collect and use information about them. Over 90 percent of those surveyed by Pew agreed or "strongly" agreed that they have lost control over how their personal data is collected and used by companies. Nearly two-thirds believe the government should do more to regulate advertisers while over 60 percent were skeptical that providing personal information to companies made their online experiences better in a meaningful way, disagreeing with the statement: “I appreciate that online services are more efficient because of the increased access they have to my personal data.”

But 55 percent agreed they were willing to share some information in exchange for free online services. This type of cognitive dissonance explains how even as consumers become more and more wary of the ways data about them is being hoarded, the underlying economic model of most online services continues to rely on turning user data into a commodity that can be sold to advertisers.

Distrust of advertisers is widespread according to Pew. Only 1 percent of respondents to the survey said they trusted advertisers to do what's right "just about all of the time," with an additional 11 percent trusting advertisers "most of the time." The government fares only slightly better in terms of public perception, with 2 percent trusting them almost all the time and 16 percent most of the time.

Americans have been inundated with news about government surveillance programs since former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden leaked information about the scope of those efforts in the summer of 2013. According to Pew, most Americans have now heard at least something about government surveillance -- with 43 percent saying they've heard "a lot," and 44 percent saying they've heard at least "a little" about the government collecting information.

The more consumers hear about the programs, the less they like digital snooping. "Just 23% of adults who have heard “a lot” about the NSA revelations think online surveillance is good for society, compared with 46% of those who have heard less about the NSA revelations," said Pew.

Overall, most surveyed by Pew don't think it's good for society to believe their online activities are being watched. Over 60 percent disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement "it is a good thing for society if people believe that someone is keeping an eye on the things that they do online."

The revelations of the past year and a half also left consumers skeptical of their communication channels. Over 80 percent of those surveyed felt "not very" or "not at all secure" using social media sites to share private information with others, while 68 percent felt insecure using instant messaging and 57 percent felt insecure when sending private information via e-mail.

Text messages weren't trusted by 58 percent of respondents, but cellphones and landlines fared slightly better: Just over 30 percent felt insecure using landlines when sharing private information while 46 percent were skeptical of the security of sharing private information during a cellphone call.

Those surveyed by Pew also felt they had little recourse in shielding themselves online: Just 24 percent agreed it was easy for them to be anonymous online.

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