New Privacy Rankings
posted by Deven Desai
FYI: Privacy International has just released an International Privacy Ranking. A pdf of the information is here but one might have to zoom to read the numbers. I have not had a chance to examine the method used in the study. Even if it turns out that the way the study was conducted is suspect, the site seems to offer more information on a country by country basis. That alone may be worth a look for those wishing to begin research on a particular country’s approach to privacy. In any event here’s the map. The key is below.
January 1, 2008 at 10:16 pm
Posted in: Privacy
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Responses (4)
Matt - January 2, 2008 at 11:12 am
Might we not wonder if the standards used are really the right ones (that is, the ones we should care about) when apparently _no_ country is at the top level and only Greece (!?) comes close? I’m certainly in favor of strong privacy standards in some areas of life and think there has been a lot of back-sliding, but this sort of map makes me pretty suspiscious that the approach is more than a bit ideologically charged.
Maryland Conservatarian - January 2, 2008 at 6:40 pm
“… but this sort of map makes me pretty suspiscious that the approach is more than a bit ideologically charged.”
..an apt understatement. Gotta wonder about a group of so-called privacy gurus that can’t even hazard a guess as to privacy rights in Cuba.
Deven - January 2, 2008 at 9:59 pm
Thanks guys. Good points. Still the detailed listing of privacy-related laws and practices for the countries is a good idea. The resulting map may indicate that the listings could be suspect of course. Nonetheless having a starting point for so many areas that touch on privacy can help. If anyone digs into the method more please speak up as such an effort could lead to other ways to analyze a country’s approach to privacy.
Orin Kerr - January 3, 2008 at 12:31 am
The reasons for why the U.S. did poorly seem rather bizarre to me. If I’m not mistaken, one of the big ones is that according to Privacy International, “There is no right to privacy in the U.S. Constitution.”
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