U.S. on par with countries like China, Russia and Malaysia in privacy laws

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Red Tape Chronicles
http://redtape.msnbc.com/2006/11/us_near_the_bot.html

U.S. near the bottom in privacy studyPosted: Wednesday, November 1 at 06:13 pm CT by Bob Sullivan

U.S. privacy protections rank among the worst in the democratic world, a London-based privacy organization said Wednesday.

Privacy International ranked 36 nations around the globe, including all European Union nations and other major democracies, and determined that in categories such as enforcement of privacy laws, the U.S. is on par with countries like China, Russia and Malaysia.

Overall, the U.S. was determined to be an "extensive surveillance society,” the second-lowest rating in the study.

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"The rankings establish for the first time that most of the world’s most economically advanced countries have failed to protect the privacy rights of their citizens, while some of the newest and poorest democracies have become best protectors," wrote Privacy International director Simon Davies in announcing the report.

"This is damning evidence that privacy is being destroyed by the very nations that proclaim to respect our rights," he said. "It is clear that there is a systemic failure of legal mechanisms to protect us against the emerging surveillance society. Those responsible for protecting our rights have failed to do so ... Australia, Britain and the United States have not only performed abysmally but they are embracing surveillance at an alarming speed."

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That study detailed numerous surveillance and privacy-infringing activities by governments and corporations around the globe. This year, for the first time, Privacy International used that report to compare nations in about a dozen categories and rank them. Categories included use of identity cards and biometrics, levels of workplace monitoring, law enforcement access to private data and communications interception.

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