Right to Privacy is not about hiding a wrong

Right to privacy is not about hiding a wrong. It is about living in dignity. The Administration of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has failed to protect privacy and has continued surveillance on citizens for the past years. These findings are included in the recent Privacy and Human Rights Report of Privacy International (PI) a human rights group based in London, England released last week.

The Philippines, India, Denmark, Bulgaria, Lithuania, and France are among the societies with extensive surveillance. The United States and United Kingdom being in the forefront of the global war on terror are ranked as societies with endemic surveillance. PI noted that the "claims on the grounds of security, law enforcement, the fight against terrorism and illegal immigration, ..." are used as a reason of these countries to create "hundreds of key policy initiatives that, ... fundamentally destabilize core elements of personal privacy." In the Philippines, the Human Security Act is a threat to privacy and human rights.

The Philippines is ranked as one of the worst in privacy protection due to; lack of data protection law and regulatory body to investigate privacy infractions, continued efforts to implement a national ID system and biometrics, communication interception and wiretapping, unauthorized government access to data through illegal arrests and abductions.

PI conducted a survey on the state of surveillance and privacy protection in 70 countries (http://www.privacyinternational.org/phr) and has released a ranking of the leading 47 surveillance socities around the world. More than 200 experts were involved in the development of the report.

While some technological advancements in computers can help in privacy protection, the existence of government policies like the Human Security Act which authorizes surveillance on citizens and its involvement in the global war on terror, violations on right to privacy by this government will continue.