State of privacy map & data protection legislation by country (Europe)

Hello,

Two links I thought might be of interest for those researching in the field of privacy and data protection:


1. This interesting map shows the 2007 International Privacy Ranking by Privacy International. See here.

"Important note:

This study and the accompanying ranking chart measure the extent of surveillance and privacy. They do not intend to comprehensively reflect the state of democracy or the full extent of legal or parliamentary health or dysfunction in these countries (though the two conditions are frequently linked). The aim of this study is to present an assessment of the extent of information disclosure, surveillance, data exploitation and the general state of information privacy."

Also, the criteria chosen to assess each country on the map doesn't limit itself to internet privacy. It encompasses :

- Constitutional protection
- Statutory protection
- Privacy enforcement
- Identity cards and biometrics
- Data-sharing
- Visual surveillance
- Communication interception

• Are there adequate laws protecting against abuse?
• When can police intercept? E.g. 'Reasonable cause', 'probable cause', etc.
• What type of investigations can involve interception? e.g. cases where there the crime is punishable by 4 years in prison, 2 years in prison, all crimes, proscribed crimes,
• Do security services have oversight?
• Who authorises? A judge? A minister? ['judicial warrants' does not mean the same in all countries, where sometimes judges have investigatory powers, though the survey does attempt to note this]
• Are telecommunications service providers required to create 'intercept capability'?

- Workplace monitoring
- Government access to data
- Communications data retention

• Is there a law requiring retention of telecommunications traffic data? If so, for how long?
• Has there been any consideration of the different types of information and how retention periods may have to differ?

- Surveillance of medical, financial and movement
- Border and trans-border issues
- Leadership
- Democratic safeguards


2. This link is a guide to data protection legislation by country (Europe only). See here.

 

I live in Romania, and I can say that this study has little connection to the real situation, which I personally found to be worse than this study reveals...

 

Notice there wasn't a blue spot to be found on that map, lol (unless my eyes are REALLY bad). Welcome to life in the 21st century and post-9/11. Get comfortable with it because more is on the way.

 

I didn't see any blue either. Also notice those maps/pages are dated 2007. Much has changed in the last year, and not for the better.

 

Sad, but true. This study is from 2007 and in just the last year there have been significant moves backwards. But this is a very interesting look at things. Thanks for posting!

 

Looking at those pages, it becomes quite clear where we'd have to go if we want real privacy and freedom. Another planet!

 

Thanks for informing that there were differences Nebulus. I find it really interesting to have information posted in a forum like this, so that people from a variety of places can update, challenge or confirm the information, in a similar way it's done with software in other parts of the forum.

I thought the map was useful in giving an overall view of the world, to get a sense of what type of environment we live in. Also, it might serve to show how certain governments, while giving themselves the authority to dictate to the rest of the world what guidelines should be followed in terms of freedom and civil liberties, are the same ones practicing severe infringements on the right to privacy and reducing the freedom of their own citizens.

Nebulus, I checked your country's specific profile on the PI site. It's dated from December 2007. As you and the other posters mentioned, probably much has changed since the past year.

Perhaps this is the new legislation in Romania which has caused the situation to become "worse" like you mentioned:

"A new anti-terrorism and organized crime act was adopted at the end of 2006 without any public debate.[43] The act gave more powers to the Prosecutors Department for Investigations on Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) and would allow prosecutors to monitor traffic data from electronic communications providers without warrants.[44]"

For more specifics on each country, go to the homepage, see the right hand-side menu and choose "Privacy Profile".

Much credit and congratulations to the people at Privacy International for researching all this information and providing open source intelligence for the common citizen's benefit.

And any views from around the world are much appreciated.

 

An awful lot of the world is grayed out. Does that mean no information or no laws controlling the Internet?

 

I think it's lack of information.

 

Yes I think Nebulus is right. Probably there is no data/studies available concerning those areas. Maybe because regarding those countries, watchdogs and NGOs haven't been able to collect data/carry out observations systematically over a given period of time.

The website explains it like this:

"The survey requires substantive information on national developments resulting in the exclusion of numerous countries from this year's survey."

 

Pretty hard to collect data like that in communist states, dictatorships, and countries with no acting government at all. If you think you have it bad in European, Western, and Asian countries with no such government issues regarding your privacy, you'd shut up and come running back home after a year spent in those kinds of places. Be thankful for what you still have.

 

Heh... I lived a relatively small part of my life under a communist/dictatorial regime, so I can make a comparison to the current situation. Sure, what happens now it's not like it was back then, but the decisions and methods are slowly getting closer. What worries me the most is that a good part of the people here, that were outraged that the communist regime was listening to their phone calls and opening their mails, now are big supporters of monitoring internet, installing security cammeras everywhere, etc. Because, of course, "now it's democracy, and nothing wrong can happen"

 

They'll soon find out different. And, if left unchecked, all this monitoring can lead right back into the kind of government they hated. That's what worries me more about governments monitoring their people, some of it is necessary, and there is no way around that anymore. It also starts with the best of intentions, but all it takes for one good intention to go bad is the wrong person/people higher up in the food chain and the "power of persuasion" for the whole thing to blow up.