The first chapter reviews key international statements on privacy rights, such as the OECD, EU and APEC principles. In the following chapters, the seven national case studies present and analyze the widest variety of 'privacy stories' in an equally varied array of countries. They look beyond the details of what current national data-protection laws allow and prohibit to examine the origins of public concern about privacy; the forces promoting or opposing privacy codes; the roles of media, grassroots activists and elite intervention; and a host of other considerations shaping the present state of privacy protection in each country.

Providing a rich description of the interweaving of national traditions, legal institutions, and power relations, this book will be of great interest to scholars engaged in the study of comparative law, information law and policy, civil liberties, and international law. It will also appeal to policy-makers in the many countries now contemplating the adoption of privacy codes, as well as to privacy activists.