[Infowarrior] - 2007 International Privacy Ranking (PI.Org)

[Richard Forno]

Leading surveillance societies in the EU and the World 2007

28/12/2007

The 2007 International Privacy Ranking

http://tinyurl.com/ywpp9y


Summary of key findings

(Please note that "worst ranking" and "lowest ranking" denotes countries
that exhibit poor privacy performance and high levels of surveillance.

    * The 2007 rankings indicate an overall worsening of privacy protection
across the world, reflecting an increase in surveillance and a declining
performance o privacy safeguards.
    * Concern over immigration and border control dominated the world agenda
in 2007. Countries have moved swiftly to implement database, identity and
fingerprinting systems, often without regard to the privacy implications for
their own citizens
    * The 2007 rankings show an increasing trend amongst governments to
archive data on the geographic, communications and financial records of all
their citizens and residents. This trend leads to the conclusion that all
citizens, regardless of legal status, are under suspicion.
    * The privacy trends have been fueled by the emergence of a profitable
surveillance industry dominated by global IT companies and the creation of
numerous international treaties that frequently operate outside judicial or
democratic processes.
    * Despite political shifts in the US Congress, surveillance initiatives
in the US continue to expand, affecting visitors and citizens alike.
    * Surveillance initiatives initiated by Brussels have caused a
substantial decline in privacy across Europe, eroding protections even in
those countries that have shown a traditionally high regard for privacy.
    * The privacy performance of older democracies in Europe is generally
failing, while the performance of newer democracies is becoming generally
stronger.
    * The lowest ranking countries in the survey continue to be Malaysia,
Russia and China. The highest-ranking countries in 2007 are Greece, Romania
and Canada.
    * The 2006 leader, Germany, slipped significantly in the 2007 rankings,
dropping from 1st to 7th place behind Portugal and Slovenia.
    * In terms of statutory protections and privacy enforcement, the US is
the worst ranking country in the democratic world. In terms of overall
privacy protection the United States has performed very poorly, being
out-ranked by both India and the Philippines and falling into the "black"
category, denoting endemic surveillance.
    * The worst ranking EU country is the United Kingdom, which again fell
into the "black" category along with Russia and Singapore. However for the
first time Scotland has been given its own ranking score and performed
significantly better than England & Wales.
    * Argentina scored higher than 18 of the 27 EU countries.
    * Australia ranks higher than Slovakia but lower than South Africa and
New Zealand.