This annual report by EPIC and Privacy International reviews the state of privacy in over fifty countries around the world. It outlines legal protections for privacy, new challenges, and summarizes important issues and events relating to privacy and surveillance.

The 2002 edition of Privacy and Human Rights examines the impact of government proposals after September 11, 2001, on privacy and civil liberties. The report documents many new anti-terrorism and security measures and identifies key trends including increased communications surveillance, weakening of data protection regimes, and increased profiling and identification of individuals.

The 2002 Privacy and Human Rights report finds that laws to protect privacy in the workplace are gaining more support and that efforts to pass new data protection laws are continuing in Eastern Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Important debates are also taking place around the world concerning the future of new technologies for identification and surveillance.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) is a public interest research center in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1994 to focus public attention on emerging civil liberties issues and to protect privacy, the First Amendment, and constitutional values. EPIC maintains a comprehensive website on privacy and civil liberties issues at www.epic.org.