Data protection rules and regulations are evolving dramatically around the world, making compliance with global privacy laws as one of the top three challenges security professionals face. As regulations differ per regions, Forrester evaluated privacy laws in 61 countries across the globe. 

Consumer privacy rights are driving the privacy agenda forward. Individuals own their personal data and should always be able to control it. People now exercise their rights by expressing disappointment through social or formal complaints when companies fail to address their requests. Forrester found that:  

  • Stringent privacy regulations emerged in 2018 and more will come in 2019. Apart from EU’s GDPR to California’s CCPA and Brazil’s LGPD which have been passed, more regulations are in the works, including those from other US states like Massachusetts, as well as India and Japan. 
  • Government surveillance made fewer headlines but remains a concern. Regulations that allow governments to access personal data of citizens are still undermining overall privacy protections. It is a worldwide phenomenon that cuts across geographies, economic development, societal well-being, and institutional design, with alarming levels of government surveillance in countries such as Austria, Colombia, India, Kuwait, and the UK. 

Below, please see the visual of the heat map which spans across the most restricted to not restricted at all countries when it comes to privacy. 

For more information, read this blog post.