Privacy Int'l 2007 Report shows an overall worsening of privacy protection

[mandy]

(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.

full report: http://www.privacyinternational.org/arti...347-559597

[regic]

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.

Millions of fools in this country were conned into supporting a war that was pitched to them as a war to "protect freedom" when the government's real intent all along was to suppress the people's freedom in order to enrich big business.

[BellisimaJ.]

Millions of fools in this country were conned into supporting a war that was pitched to them as a war to "protect freedom" when the government's real intent all along was to suppress the people's freedom in order to enrich big business.

Amen. And "fools" is not descriptive enough, imo. I like "stupid", "braindead", "dumbasses", "fucktards", and "losers". 

[accentnepal]

Just tell them that they are free enough times.

I read in a newspaper while in India years ago a story by a reporter who spent some time in Russia. He stayed with a Rusian family. The mother once told him how she felt badly for people who lived in western countries where they did not have freedom:
"In Russia everyone has a job, everyone has food, everyone has a home. We are free."

It threw me - I had been brought up being told that freedom was speech, religion, travel. Russia did not have those. But we have old people eating dogfood and sleeping under bridges. Maybe Russia has those too now, now that they are free.

[jezebel]

But we have old people eating dogfood and sleeping under bridges and 47 million uninsured people of all ages, including 12% of all children, who don't have access to proper medical care