Violet Blue writes:
This year a number of major news stories released information on world governments buying, selling and using surveillance technologies on their citizens. These stories, reports — and in some cases, hacktivist breaches and data dumps — have served to verify the acquisition and use of spyware on citizens by dozens of diverse governments around the globe.
We sought to answer one question: Why is this a problem, exactly?
To see how countries compare, we decided to focus on the client list of Italy’s infamous spyware dealers, Hacking Team — which was recently hacked and exposed for selling malware, intrusion services, and surveillance technologies to dozens of countries. That total is now around 50 countries.
Click each shaded country for a concise summary of its current surveillance practices and its human rights status — with the direct correlations between its use of these technologies and the day-to-day condition of its citizens.
Read more on engadget.