Here are some of the countries with the strongest data privacy laws for websites and the press.
1. Iceland
Despite its economic issues following the Global Financial Crisis, Iceland is well-known for its strict data privacy laws. In addition to its excellent connectivity to both Europe and North America, Iceland’s Data Protection Act in 2000 took great measures to ensure the government of all of 300,000 people followed strict protocol to protect privacy. While Iceland has adopted the Eurozone’s privacy regulations – which are undoubtedly better than those in the United States, it has gone a step further and gotten rid of more stringent requirements to maintain data. Encrypted communication services like Unseen.is operate from Iceland. And Kim Dotcom recently announced that he would move to encrypted Mega file service to Iceland if New Zealand passed anti-privacy laws.
Iceland is building a “free speech zone”, with companies dedicated to preserving the privacy of individuals and business. At our Passport to Freedom conference, Jeff Berwick revealed that The Dollar Vigilante recently moved their servers to web hosting service Orange Host in Iceland, because the company took a very pro-freedom view and refused to bow to foreign governments.
2. Norway
While Sweden web hosting company Banhhof reportedly hosts Wikileaks, Norway surpasses Sweden in data privacy and freedom of the press rankings. Despite sharing many of the European values of data privacy, Norway is not a member of the EU, which means it has been free to craft its own privacy laws free from Eurozone interference.
