Americans do not trust their government when it comes to online privacy

American citizens are concerned about the privacy of their online information. Moreover, many US citizens do not think that the government will keep their personal information safe, a new poll said.

A poll conducted by The Pew Research Center showed that only six percent of adult respondents said that they were "very confident" that government agencies could keep their records private and secure. At the same time, 25 percent of the polled said they were "somewhat confident."

The confidence was at the same level for landline telephone companies, and marginally higher for credit card companies -- with nine percent "very confident" and 29 percent "somewhat confident" about the security of their data.

The Pew Research Center has thus conducted three surveys on privacy after former NSA officer Edward Snowden unveiled many of agency's secrets.

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"In the almost two years that have passed since the initial Snowden revelations, the public has been awash in news stories detailing security breaches at major retailers, health insurance companies and financial institutions," said Pew researcher Mary Madden.

Some respondents said that they had to take extra steps to protect their online privacy. Some cleared browser history of cookies, while others refused to provide personal information that they believe was irrelevant to transactions.