The UN General Assembly's human rights committee unanimously adopted a resolution sponsored by Brazil and Germany to protect the right to privacy against unlawful surveillance, following months of reports about US eavesdropping abroad.
The symbolic resolution, which seeks to extend personal privacy rights to all people, followed a series of disclosures of US eavesdropping on foreign leaders, including Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, that surprised and angered allies.
Brazil's Ambassador Antonio de Aguiar Patriota said the resolution "establishes for the first time that human rights should prevail respective of the medium, and therefore need to be protected online and offline."
The resolution expresses deep 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?"