UN committee backs digital privacy despite qualms of the 'Five Eyes' nations

The United Nations has adopted a resolution on protecting digital privacy that for the first time urges governments to offer redress to citizens targeted by mass surveillance. The resolution presented on Tuesday by Germany and Brazil builds on a landmark text presented last year in the wake of revelations by Edward Snowden of widespread surveillance by the US and British governments. "Where mass surveillance technology is used, a situation can easily be created where no privacy of communications on the internet exists at all," German Ambassador Harald Braun told a UN committee. Braun warned that without proper checks, "we risk turning into Orwellian states" where citizens are constantly monitored. The resolution was adopted by consensus by the General Assembly's human rights committee and now goes before the full Assembly in December. It followed weeks of tough negotiations with Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and the United States - members of the so-called Five Eyes intelligence alliance - who sought to limit the resolution's scope. The five countries were not among the 65 co-sponsors of the resolution that included France, Russia, Turkey and many east European countries that have a history of state surveillance. While the resolution is non-binding, it carries political weight and helps shape the debate on online privacy as a human right. The resolution calls on all governments to adopt national legislation to ensure citizens' right to privacy online is protected. In a first, the measure urges governments to "provide individuals whose right to privacy has been violated by unlawful or arbitrary surveillance with access to an effective remedy". It includes a reference to metadata that can be aggregated to reveal personal information such as the time, date and location from which a user accesses email. "Metadata can be as privacy-sensitive as the content of communications," said Braun, who raised concern about how easy it was to compile personal profiles by collecting metadata. The resolution urges the Human Rights Council to follow up with action such as naming an envoy for digital privacy who would ensure the issue remains on the international agenda. Debate over the first resolution last year, also drafted by Germany and Brazil, was clouded by the Snowden affair and revelations of US spying targeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel. With the international focus now on Islamists in Iraq and Syria, opponents of the resolution argued that governments must not be hamstrung in using surveillance to prevent terrorism. Britain and Australia argued that in addressing online privacy, the United Nations must strike a balance between respect for individual rights and the need to protect citizens from threats. Canada spoke out against the "narrow focus" of the resolution and said there should be a broader discussion involving governments, industry, civil society and the technology community. Amnesty International said the Five Eyes were "more concerned with protecting their surveillance … than protecting human rights". "Mass surveillance of people's communications will not end with declarations of good intentions, states must urgently live up to their obligation to uphold privacy," the rights group said. Sony hacked Sony Pictures Entertainment said its computer system was down for a second day on Tuesday, following media reports of a major hacking attack aimed at the film and television studio. Before Sony Pictures’ computers went dark on Monday, the screens displayed an image of a red skeleton with the phrase “Hacked By #GOP”. The hackers warned that they had obtained “secrets” that they would leak on the Web. “We’ve already warned you, and this is just a beginning. We will continue until our request is met,” said a message that popped up on the computer screens. Sony Pictures spokeswoman Jean Guerin said the company’s network was down as it dealt with “a system disruption” and that technicians were “working diligently” to resolve the issue. It was unclear if the problem would affect the company’s plans for upcoming holiday films, such as Annie, or regular television programmes including Wheel of Fortune. Sony has been a target of hackers in the past. In 2011, its video game online network suffered a major attack resulting in the theft of data belonging to 77 million users. Reuters

UN committee backs digital privacy despite qualms of the 'Five Eyes' nations

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Rights committee adopts resolution urging countries to offer redress to citizens targeted by surveillance, despite qualms of the 'Five Eyes'

Rights committee adopts resolution urging countries to offer redress to citizens targeted by surveillance, despite qualms of the 'Five Eyes'