U.S. near the bottom in Privacy Study

Individual privacy protection in the U.S. ranks amongst the worst in the democratic world, according to a London-based privacy organization.

The U.S. is on a par with China, Russia and Malaysia as far as private citizens' privacy, according to Privacy International, which surveys developments in 70 countries, assessing the state of technology, surveillance and privacy protection.

But the U.S. is not the worst performing democracy identified in the study. Britain is, placing last among all EU countries

It ranked Germany and Canada as those that best protect the privacy of its citizens.

More than 200 experts from around the world provided materials and commentary for the study. The participants range from law students studying privacy to high-level officials charged with safeguarding constitutional freedoms in their countries. Academics, human rights advocates, journalists and researchers provided reports, insight, documents and advice.