By ANTHONY IAN CRUZ
Malaya
January 9, 2008

THE revival of the national identification system faces stiff criticism from the international community as the 2007 International Privacy Ranking study showed the Philippines is among the countries with bad records in privacy and surveillance issues.

The study covered 47 countries.

It was released last Dec. 28 by Privacy International (PI) based in London and Electronic Privacy Information Center based in Washington D.C., a global watchdog on surveillance and privacy invasions by government and corporations.

The Philippines was among countries with “worst records” on privacy enforcement, identity cards and biometrics, communication interception, and law enforcement access. It is lumped with the United States, United Kingdom, Russia and Singapore.

The study also showed the Philippines is among the “extensive surveillance societies.”

Greece, Romania and Canada are among the highest-ranking countries in dealing with privacy and surveillance issues.

The PI is critical of national ID systems and doubts claims on their benefits.

It argues that ID systems are costly, encourages false identity, abets police abuses and discrimination, imposes a virtual internal passport within a country, and makes vulnerable private information to corruption and surveillance.

The study’s report on the Philippines said “illegal wiretapping continues” even if “judicial authorization was needed for interception, and limited to serious crimes.”

It warned that “pending cyber crime legislation and new terrorism legislation (Anti-Terrorism Act) raises serious concerns” citing the surveillance, harassment and attacks on government critics.

“The 2007 rankings show an increasing trend amongst governments to archive data on the geographic, communications and financial records of all their citizens and residents,” the study said. “This trend leads to the conclusion that all citizens, regardless of legal status, are under suspicion.”