WASHINGTON, D.C. – This year alone over 50 million Americans have had their personal data lost, misused, or stolen. As U.S. legislators and companies work to protect consumers against data theft and fraud that occurs in the United States, what protections
exist for the increasing quantity of American data sent overseas for processing? Representative Edward J. Markey, (D-MA) a senior Democratic Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Co-Chair of the Congressional Privacy Caucus, today released a report detailing the lack of protection for Americans when their private data leaves U.S. shores and is outsourced to other countries.

“Most Americans don’t even realize that their most personal information is zapped from doctors’ offices, tax preparation firms, and U.S. banks to countries that don’t play by the same privacy rules as the United States,” said Rep. Markey. “I have prepared this report card to let consumers know exactly how countries receiving their data measure up. The truth is disturbing, more than half of the countries where outsourcing takes place simply don’t meet the grade.”

Markey’s report ranks the privacy protections in the countries that receive the bulk of U.S. consumer data. The report card reveals that of the twenty countries and regions examined, 14 (Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Korea, Taiwan,
Mexico, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, Singapore and Thailand) have privacy regimes that are weaker than the US. The report ranks countries based on eight principles of legal protections for privacy including security, enforcement and notification. The principals
used to judge the adequacy of each country’s privacy regime are taken from the European Union’s data Privacy Directive.

Attachments:
 Report Title Page (191.55 KB)
 Report Text (219.30 KB), September 14, 2005
 Appendix (76.79 KB)