Do you live in a data privacy hot zone?

When it comes to privacy, it all depends on where you live. Or, at least, where your data lives…do you know?

Forrester Research put together a pretty cool Data Privacy Heat Map of the world comparing country by country, what data privacy restrictions exist, and which ones don’t. You can take a brief tour of the map here. Sorry, but only the US and UK are available to check out in the demo. Here’s a snapshot of the differences.

The map summarizes privacy legislation for 54 countries around the world. In a post on Forbes.com, Chris Sherman of Forrester Research shares some interesting findings from the research that went into developing the map. To name a few:

“…the EU has developed an overarching data privacy framework based on the ideal that privacy is a fundamental right, the United States has taken a largely sector-based approach to its laws.”
“…many countries are undergoing shifts in their privacy legislation, with a trend towards adoption of the EU’s legislative standards.”
“6 out of the 54 countries do not regulate government surveillance, which can lead to rampant and uncontrolled surveillance activities.”

In today’s fast paced, global, digital world, businesses have to be cognizant of where their data resides and what policies are in place to comply with wide ranging regional differences in how data is managed. This has never been more evident than today with the growth of the cloud. Based on Chris’s post on Forbes, Forrester acknowledges this and is investing in research and tools like the map to help businesses operate internationally.

Though you might not believe such information matters to you as an individual, just remember that most of these global corporations have customer data, and that customer data may be about you. In fact, on NPR Fresh Air this week, there was discussion on the very topic of “How Companies Are ‘Defining Your Worth’ Online.” Keeping your privacy top of mind is something that is top of mind for most companies, at least in Europe as Forrester’s findings indicate, but perhaps not so much for others.

Should the US adopt a standard similar to the EU standard, or not?

Why stockpiling hard drives screams opportunity for secure data erasure

Does data security need to be simplified for the cloud?

Why our data is always our responsibility