UN votes to protect privacy in digital age

This June 6, 2013 file photo shows the sign outside the National Security Agency (NSA) campus in Fort Meade, Md. The case of a Baltimore purse-snatcher who got nabbed after crank-calling his victim in 1976 laid the legal groundwork for today’s worldwide government surveillance of telephone records in the name of protecting the U.S. from terrorists. The NSA has argued that people forfeit privacy rights when they voluntarily give their phone numbers and Internet IDs to businesses. AP

UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. General Assembly has unanimously adopted a resolution aimed at protecting the right to privacy against unlawful surveillance in the digital age.

Germany and Brazil introduced the resolution following a series of reports of U.S. eavesdropping abroad — including on Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff and German Chancellor Angela Merkel — that surprised and angered friends and allies.

The resolution, adopted by consensus Wednesday, “affirms that the same rights that people have offline must also be protected online, including the right to privacy.”

It expresses deep concern at “the negative impact” that unlawful surveillance may have on the exercise and enjoyment of human rights, “in particular when carried out on a mass scale.”

General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding but they do reflect world opinion and carry political weight.