Failing governments eventually resort to the last ditch efforts of confiscating their citizens' wealth to stay afloat. Most recently this was done in Argentina as citizens' retirement plans were nationalized. With the dollar's death rattle becoming more pronounced, one wonders how long before this happens here.

How big is that risk in our nation? Check out the following map of nations with the most and least privacy protections for their citizens. Guess who is on the bottom? Yep, you guessed it. The good ole US of A.


CLICK MAP TO ENLARGE

Summary of Findings
No right to privacy in constitution, though search and seizure protections exist in 4th Amendment; case law on government searches has considered new technology

No comprehensive privacy law, many sectoral laws; though tort of privacy

FTC continues to give inadequate attention to privacy issues, though issued self-regulating privacy guidelines on advertising in 2007

State-level data breach legislation has proven to be useful in identifying faults in security

REAL-ID and biometric identification programs continue to spread without adequate oversight, research, and funding structures

Extensive data-sharing programs across federal government and with private sector
Spreading use of CCTV

Congress approved presidential program of spying on foreign communications over U.S. networks, e.g. Gmail, Hotmail, etc.; and now considering immunity for telephone companies, while government claims secrecy, thus barring any legal action

No data retention law as yet, but equally no data protection law

World leading in border surveillance, mandating trans-border data flows

Weak protections of financial and medical privacy; plans spread for 'rings of steel' around cities to monitor movements of individuals

Democratic safeguards tend to be strong but new Congress and political dynamics show that immigration and terrorism continue to leave politicians scared and without principle

Lack of action on data breach legislation on the federal level while REAL-ID is still compelled upon states has shown that states can make informed decisions

Recent news regarding FBI biometric database raises particular concerns as this could lead to the largest database of biometrics around the world that is not protected by strong privacy law