Jinfo: Understand the context of privacy

Understand the context of privacy - Part 2
Jinfo Blog

27th November 2007

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One of the most interesting sources I have come across while exploring global online privacy is: The Privacy Guide by the Australian-based Caslon Analytics. Although the guide may have not been updated with the latest developments, it does provide a good overview of the global privacy issues by pointing to government agencies, interest groups, significant online reports and major literature on privacy principles and practice. Highlights on legislations include privacy laws in Australia, EU, Asia, North America, etc. While EU has put several privacy directives into effect and takes a systematic regulatory approach to online privacy in the region, the landscape in Asia is much different. According to the Caslon guide: "Given the disparate nature of economies and cultures in Asia and the Pacific islands it is unsurprising that there's wide range of legislation (or lack or legislation) and pactice compared to Europe." China and Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Japan, Thailand, and India all have their own rules and practices. Many countries in the region did not have any comprehensive national privacy/data protection regimes or until recent years, including Japan. The Japanese national government has emphasized self-regulation by the private sector, especially regarding privacy aspects of e-commerce. Some general restrictions on the use and sharing of personal data from Japan's Ministry of International Trade & Industry were established only in May 2003. China still lacks a comprehensive law for consumer data and privacy protection (Note: Censorship is a whole different topic). Whether such a law may be expected in the near future remains uncertain. Besides cultural and political differences, it is also important to keep in mind that given the state of the development, discussions over online privacy in Asia are more likely to take place in local languages. It can be a challenge for English resources to capture the whole story as they aim to publicize the local and national debates in Asia to the rest of the world .

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