In France, for example, the C.N.I.L. can fine privacy violators up to 300,000 euros, or about $385,000 — a drop in the bucket for a global giant like Google.
And Google, so recently a hero to many people for threatening to leave China after hacking attempts against the Gmail accounts of human rights activists, now finds itself being pilloried as a clumsy violator of privacy.
"The suggestion that violations of the right to privacy are meaningless if the violator subsequently forgets about it not only offends the fundamental, inalienable nature of human rights, but patronises the British people, who will not accept such a meagre excuse for the loss of their civil liberties," Privacy International added in its own statement.
"I wanted to force the Milanese bourgeoisie to enter a private space regulated by the statutes of art, that is the museum, and observe people widely seen as the violators of privacy, people that are seen as different," Ms. Beecroft, 39, said during an interview at the Pavilion of Contemporary Art, or PAC, where the performance took place on March 16.
In this sense, the revelations of the Nixon tapes have done us no favor, and Nixon himself, creator of the tapes and violator of the privacy of those who spoke to him, is the first responsible party.
Regulators there slap violators with large fines when they violate consumer privacy rights.
Doers and doings in business, entertainment and technology: The annual "Big Brother Awards" were bestowed Thursday upon U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft and Oracle's Larry Ellison, naming them this year's most infamous violators of personal privacy.
The commission would focus efforts on getting companies to abide by their published privacy statements, on fighting identity theft and on prosecuting violators of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
"The F.T.C. will continue to champion consumer privacy by maintaining the registry and taking enforcement action against violators as appropriate," she said.
He adds, however, that P3P probably won't preempt efforts to legislate privacy on the Internet, since self regulation won't allow enforcement and sanctions against violators.
