Publication of the first international privacy rankings
02/11/2006
Argentina tops the US as a privacy protector – Britain tops the EU as worst privacy invader.
1st November 2006
Publication embargo: 00.01 GMT, Thursday 2nd November 2006.
On Thursday 2nd November the London—based watchdog group Privacy International will publish the first ever international privacy rankings, scored by country. 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.
The rankings project was drawn primarily from the 1,200 page Privacy & Human Rights report, jointly produced each year by Privacy International and the US based Electronic Privacy Information Center. The new leagues table ranks 36 countries according to their ability to protect privacy. The list includes all 25 EU countries, Australia, Canada and the United States.
Conversely, the rankings indicate which countries are the worst privacy offenders - the emerging surveillance societies. The report measures the extent of information available to authorities about citizens and the many ways that data is used. Categories include police data, DNA, visual surveillance and identity card technology. These are measured alongside against legal and constitutional protections.
Below are some key findings. (Please note that “worst ranking” and “lowest ranking” denotes countries that exhibit poor privacy performance and high levels of surveillance.)
* The two worst ranking countries in the survey are Malaysia and China. The highest-ranking countries are Germany and Canada.
* In terms of statutory protections and privacy enforcement, the US is the worst ranking country in the democratic world. In terms of the health of national privacy protection, the US has been ranked between Thailand and Israel.
* The worst ranking EU country is the United Kingdom, which fell into the “black” category along with Russia and Singapore. The black category defines countries demonstrating “endemic surveillance”.
* Despite having no comprehensive national privacy law, the United States scored higher than the UK. Thailand and the Philippines also scored higher than the UK.
* Argentina scored higher than 20 of the 25 EU countries.
* Australia ranks higher than Slovenia but lower than Lithuania and Argentina. New Zealand ranks higher than Australia and has an equivalent ranking to the Czech Republic.
The two documents attached to this release are (a) the leagues table and (b) a short explanatory and methodology report.
Commenting on the findings Privacy International’s Director, Simon Davies, said: “This is damning evidence that privacy is being destroyed by the very nations that proclaim to respect our rights. “
“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.”
“Argentina, Canada and Germany should be applauded for their efforts to protect privacy. Australia, Britain and the United States have not only performed abysmally but they are embracing surveillance at an alarming speed”.
Related:
PHR2005 - Forward
PHR2005 - Acknowledgements and Front Matter
PHR2005 - Executive Summary
PHR2005 - Overview of Privacy
PHR2005 - Highlights
PHR2005 - Glossary and International Resources (PDF)
PHR2005 - Country Reports
PHR2005 - Threats to Privacy
Leading surveillance societies in the EU and the World 2006
Privacy International and EPIC launch Privacy and Human Rights 2005 global study
|
