A United Nations committee Nov. 26 adopted a resolution on “The right to privacy in the digital age.”
“Through this resolution, the General Assembly establishes, for the first time, that human rights should prevail irrespective of the medium and therefore need to be protected both offline and online,” Brazil’s representative said, according to a UN summary of the meeting of the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural). (See UN announcement.)
The draft resolution, approved without a vote, “would have the General Assembly call upon member states to review their procedures, practices and legislation on the surveillance of communications, their interception and collection of personal data, including mass surveillance, with a view to upholding the right to privacy by ensuring the full and effective implementation of all relevant obligations under international human rights law,” according to the announcement. The official statement continued:
Following the approval, some delegates stressed the need for agreed international human rights mechanisms in relation to ensuring privacy and freedom of expression. Some expressed regret over the lack of a specific reference to such mechanisms in the draft, while others applauded the consensus as a clear international reaction to the national and extraterritorial electronic surveillance activities conducted by the United States.
The resolution, sponsored by Brazil and Germany, expresses concern at “the negative impact” that such surveillance, “in particular when carried out on a mass scale, may have on the exercise and enjoyment of human rights.”
German Ambassador Peter Wittig asked, “Is the human right to privacy still protected in our digital world? And should everything that is technologically feasible, be allowed?”
“The consensus adoption of the resolution means will it also unanimously pass the whole 193-member General Assembly in December,” according to an AP story. “General Assembly resolutions aren’t legally binding but reflect world opinion and carry political weight.” The draft resolution directs the U.N. human rights chief to report to the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly on the protection and promotion of privacy “in the context of domestic and extraterritorial surveillance … including on a mass scale.”
AP also wrote:
“The United States did not fight the measure after it engaged in lobbying last week with Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, which comprise the “Five Eyes” intelligence-sharing group, to dilute some of the draft resolution’s language.
The key compromise dropped the contention that the domestic and international interception and collection of communications and personal data, “in particular massive surveillance,” may constitute a human rights violation.
Also see article in The Guardian.
The draft resolution directs the U.N. human rights chief to report to the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly on the protection and promotion of privacy “in the context of domestic and extraterritorial surveillance … including on a mass scale.”
Human Rights Watch’s general counsel, Dina PoKempner, was quoted as saying that the resolution was “watered down” but is still a “vital first step toward stigmatizing indiscriminate global surveillance as a wide-scale violation of human rights.”
The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Frank La Rue, welcomed the adoption of a resolution, but said, “Much more can and must be done to ensure trust in the safety of communications around the world.”
“The recent revelations on widespread surveillance were alarming signals of the multiple violations to privacy made possible by new technologies,” he noted. “If States are truly committed to ensuring that all the rights which apply offline continue to be valid online, they urgently need to take concrete steps to secure respect for the privacy of communications as a universal right everywhere – not only within their own borders.”
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