[NYTr] Biggest Brother: US at Bottom of Global Privacy Rankings - Study

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

The Privacy International study is here:
http://www.privacyinternational.org/article.shtml?cmd[347]=x-347-559597

(Extensive graphics as well as complete text, both html and pdf)



PC World blogs - Jan 2, 2008
http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/006143.html


U.S. at the Bottom of Global Privacy Rankings

by Scott Nichols

Big Brother lives. And he may live a lot closer to home than you might
think or want.

Human rights organization Privacy International compiled list of the
best and worst countries in 2007 for citizen privacy versus government
surveillance. The United States sits squarely at the bottom of that
list with Privacy International classifying the country as one of the
world's most "endemic surveillance societies."

Other low ranking countries include: China, Russia, Thailand, Taiwan,
Singapore, Malaysia, and England. Greece was the highest ranking
country when it came to citizen privacy protection. Privacy
International said that Greece had "adequate safeguards against abuse."
No country reached the highest ranking of "significant protections and
safeguards" or "consistently upholds human rights safeguards."

The US has dropped in status since last year, when it was given the
marginally better label of an "extensive surveillance society."

To some the ranking of high surveillance may sound like a good thing,
after all more surveillance means more security, right? However it is
important to note that the US ranking is below the ranking of "systemic
failure to uphold safeguards" when regarding citizen privacy. There is
a trade-off at work where more security means less privacy.

As for me, I'd like to have a bit more privacy. Hopefully in 2008 the
U.S. can raise its privacy standards to something above an utter
failure.

                                   ***

Intl Herald Tribune - Jan 2, 2008
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/01/02/business/ptend03.php

A privacy group paints much of the world in black

By Victoria Shannon

PARIS: The map of the world issued by Privacy International and the
Electronic Privacy Information Center this week is striking most of all
for its darkness, both visually and otherwise.

There is the large, familiar shape of the United States blackened out
across the middle of North America, and on the right, another shadowy
mass that starts at Russia's western border, covering nearly all of
Europe and Asia to the east. In between them is a smaller dab of black,
straight up the length of Britain.

It would take a keen eye to find any green, the color representing what
the activist groups assess to be a home of "adequate" safeguards
against the abuse of privacy rights. In fact, there is only one such
country: Greece.

Black, on the other hand, paints the United States, Britain, Russia and
China with the same broad brush as "endemic surveillance societies,"
all taking a dim view of personal privacy protection, according to the
groups.

How bleak, it seems. Is the world mostly a palette of grays on privacy?

Not really. Look at the map's vast splashes of yellow, designating
fairly a modest score, across Canada, Argentina, Italy and Germany.

But the two privacy groups, which have issued an annual "State of
Privacy" since 1997, aim to highlight what is at best inattention to
and at worst abrogation of a right to keep personal information private
around the world.

Of course, invasions of privacy are in the eye of the beholder, as
noted this week in a blog based in Malaysia, which got the blackest of
the black marks in the survey.

"Many of the government's schemes and strategies to improve efficiency
were considered invasions of privacy," according to WestMalaysia.com,
including a plan to implement a citizen data "hub" with background,
education and health information collated across government departments.

In addition, the blog noted, the country's closed-circuit television
cameras, "most of which are in place to deter crimes and ensure safety,
are considered to be a no-no because they have no privacy safeguards."

Malaysia, whose grade also suffered because of a lack of a
comprehensive privacy law, an extensive national identification card
and a biometric system that monitors foreigners, repeated its low score
of 2006. It lies at the bottom along with China and Russia, rankings of
little surprise to watchers of democracy and rights.

But more unexpected are the fall of Germany from the top perch in last
year's survey, the decline of the United States into the ranks of
"endemic" privacy foes, and the continuing presence of Britain in the
black.

The timing for Britain, which spurred global headlines this autumn
after the loss of personal data from its health-system database, served
as another accent on newly awakened pro-privacy sentiment there.

But it is not just Britain. "The privacy performance of older
democracies in Europe is generally failing, while the performance of
newer democracies is becoming generally stronger," it added.

That certainly applies to Germany, which fell from its No. 1 ranking in
2006 on the heels of an expanding use of CCTV, the inclusion of
fingerprints on ID cards, and a high rate of police interception of
electronic communications.

And what of the United States? It got graded down on more than a dozen
points, including biometric ID programs "without adequate oversight,
research and funding," extensive data-sharing in the government and
with the private sector, and far-reaching data surveillance across
borders.

On the bleak side, "In terms of statutory protections and privacy
enforcement, the U.S. is the worst ranking country in the democratic
world. In terms of overall privacy protection, the United States has
performed very poorly, being outranked by both India and the
Philippines," the report said.

On the bright side, "People shouldn't feel despondent about the
results," said Simon Davies, director of Privacy International. "Our
view is that privacy-friendly systems will emerge in coming years and
that consumers will soon begin to see privacy as a political issue."

                          ***

C|Net News Blog - Jan 2, 2008
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9838743-7.html?tag=newsmap

Big Brother gets bigger, says global privacy study

by Elinor Mills

According to a new international privacy report, governments around the
world are increasingly invading the privacy of citizens with
surveillance, identification systems, and archiving of private data.

Driven by concern over immigration and border control, countries have
been quick to implement database, identity, and fingerprinting systems,
according to the 2007 International Privacy Ranking report.

Surveillance cameras

There was also an increase in the trend of governments archiving data
on the geographic, communications, and financial records of citizens,
as well as enacting legislation intended to increase the reach into
individuals' private lives, the report found.

"At the same time, technological advances, technology standards,
interoperability between information systems, and the globalization of
information have placed extraordinary pressure on the few remaining
privacy safeguards," the report says. "The effect of these developments
has been to create surveillance societies that nurture hostile
environments for privacy."

Specifically, governments have implemented or proposed use of
fingerprint and iris-scanning biometrics, real-time tracking and
monitoring through communications channels, geographic vehicle and
mobile phone tracing, national DNA databases, global
information-sharing agreements, and the elimination of anonymity in
cyberspace.

The lowest-ranking countries in terms of privacy protections continue
to be Malaysia, Russia, and China, with Greece, Romania, and Canada
ranked highest.

In terms of statutory protections and privacy enforcement, the United
States is the worst country in the "democratic world" and is outranked
by both India and the Philippines on overall privacy protection. The
U.S. has fallen into the "black" category reserved for countries with
"endemic surveillance."

In the European Union, the worst-ranked country is the United Kingdom,
particularly with regard to surveillance. Specifically, councils in
England and Wales continue to spread surveillance policies, including
RFID, CCTV, ID and data sharing, and road user tracking, according to
the report.