A majority of Americans have not altered their online behavior in the wake of the Edward Snowden revelations detailing widespread US government electronic surveillance activities, according to a Pew Research Center survey published Monday.

Not everybody is a privacy nihilist, however, as some Internet users are taking limited precautions, the nationwide study said. Thirty-four percent of respondents who said that "they have heard about" the spying programs have taken what the study described as "simple steps" and have done at least one of the following: altered the social media privacy settings, avoided some apps, used social media less, spoke more in person, deleted social media accounts, or "have not used certain terms in search engine queries they thought might trigger scrutiny."

The online poll, which questioned 475 adults, said that "just a fraction have taken more sophisticated steps" like using a Virtual Private Network or encryption. Respondents said adopting some of those tools was too cumbersome or complicated.

Four percent have adopted mobile encryption for calls and text messages. Three percent have used proxy servers that can help them avoid surveillance. Two percent have adopted e-mail encryption programs such as Pretty Good Privacy (PGP). Two percent have used anonymity software such as Tor. One percent have used locally-networked communications such as FireChat.

The report comes months after the Electronic Frontier Foundation launched two privacy initiatives, including an "I Fight Surveillance site" that the rights group hopes "will help you fight that privacy nihilism."

Some participants in the poll, meanwhile, said that using encryption "could make them appear suspicious."

Here are a few examples:

"There's no point in inviting scrutiny if it's not necessary." "I didn't significantly change anything. It's more like trying to avoid anything questionable, so as not to be scrutinized unnecessarily." "[I] don't want them misunderstanding something and investigating me."

The study said that those who haven't taken any or few steps are those confident the surveillance "is serving the public interest." Others simply said "they are not concerned about the surveillance programs," Pew Research found.

The study detailed explanations about why people didn't change their behavior "in any notable way."

"I really don't worry about government monitoring since they would have no interest in what I'm doing. I'm more cautious about what I post and say for personal reasons." "I actually haven't changed anything, at least consciously. I forget that I might be monitored, to be honest." "I haven't changed it much simply because I don't feel it's worth the effort."

The poll was conducted between November 26 and January 3. The 475 participants were at least 18 years old and living in the US.