Fifth Annual Privacy and Human Rights Report Released

The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and Privacy International yesterday released the fifth annual Privacy and Human Rights survey. The report reviews the state of privacy in over fifty countries around the world. It was released at a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.

The Privacy and Human Rights report examines the impact of September 11, 2001 on privacy and civil liberties. The report finds that many new anti-terrorism laws adopted by national governments since September 11 threaten political freedom. For example, in Canada, the new anti-terrorism law adopts a controversial definition of "terrorist activity," authorizes "preventative" arrests and grants significant new surveillance powers to the Canadian Security Intelligence Services (CSIS). In Denmark, a new law grants law enforcement the authority to covertly install snooping software on computers of criminal suspects and mandates retention of traffic data by ISPs. A similar data retention requirement is included in the French anti-terrorism law along with a provision requiring disclosure of encryption keys.

In Germany, increased powers for government sharing of information and legal authorization for biometric identifiers in passports and identity cards have been put in place. In India, a new law gives police sweeping powers to arrest and detain suspected terrorists, conduct electronic surveillance, and curtail free expression. In the UK, a mandatory data retention scheme has been put in place and the government is pushing the introduction of a national ID card.

In the United States, the USA-PATRIOT Act authorized increased sharing among government agencies and significantly weakened privacy protections in the federal wiretapping statutes. In Australia, a proposal to allow law enforcement to intercept electronic communications without a warrant was dropped from the package of anti-terrorism measures adopted in late June but is likely to resurface at a later stage. In New Zealand a bill granting major new powers to surveillance agencies is still pending, as is a proposal requiring telecommunications operators to make all necessary changes to their systems in order to assist the police and intelligence agencies intercept communications.

Marc Rotenberg, Executive Director of EPIC, said, "September 11 has posed an enormous challenge to democratic governments around the world. Too many adopted expanded surveillance authority without considering the long-term consequences for Constitutional government. Still, there are important indications that citizens are not prepared to sacrifice political freedom to address the challenge of terrorism."

The EPIC/PI report also found that efforts to pass new data protection laws are continuing in Eastern Europe, Asia and Latin America. A significant campaign is underway in Japan to stop the adoption of a national identification system. In addition, efforts to protect privacy in the workplace are gaining more prominence. The report, which runs more than 400 pages, covers a wide range of other topics including biometrics, genetic privacy, national ID cards, spy TV, and privacy enhancing technologies.

The EPIC/PI Privacy and Human Rights report will be discussed on September 6 at the London School of Economics. More information about the event is available at:

http://www.privacyinternational.org/conference/london2002/

"Privacy and Human Rights 2002: An International Survey of Privacy Laws and Developments" is available for sale at the EPIC Bookstore:

http://www.epic.org/bookstore/phr2002/

The report is also available online (in PDF) at:

http://www.privacyinternational.org/survey/phr2002/

• 116 Human Rights