OpenBSD Journal

United States Last in Privacy Rights

Contributed by Dengue on from the told-ya-so dept.

This is increasingly becoming a rant of mine, but it is important. The Electronic Privacy Information Center's third annual report "Privacy and Human Rights 2000" finds the United States as doing perhaps the worst job of protecting the privacy rights of it's internet using citizens. Now that sure came as a surprise *wink*. Newsbytes is carrying a story about the report, published by EPIC .

Newsbytes goes on to report: " On the legislative side, the report points out that the United States is the only "wired" country in the world that hasn't either passed, or moved toward passing, substantive data protection laws" . According to Susan Andrews, a policy analyst for EPIC, quoted in the same Newsbytes article: " US law enforcement officials are notorious in the privacy community for using "drug traffickers and pedophiles as (evidence) of the need for more surveillance" "

Nothing points out to me more the need for individuals to use strong cryptography to protect their privacy. After all, "Who watches the Watchmen?"

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Comments

  1. By Niekze () on

    That title is a bit misleading. We may be last in terms of the net, but otherwise we have substantial privacy, (think china). In terms of the net, we don't have privacy protection bestowed from the gov't. But as Wu-Tang says: "Cash Rules Everything Around Me". There is the answer. Maybe Al Gore will do something with his "Internet" thingie he created if he gets elected.

  2. By upperclasstwit () upperclasstwitoftheyear@hushmail.com on mailto:upperclasstwitoftheyear@hushmail.com

    And in Britain, where they have all those nice laws protecting your privacy from corporations they also have all those recently enacted nice laws heavily restricting the use of encryption. Which would you rather have?

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