Despite US Opposition, UN Pushes Forward Surveillance Bill of Rights

[unhappycamper]

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/11/22



The so-called "Five Eyes" countries overwhelmed by international unity on the right to protection from spying

Despite US Opposition, UN Pushes Forward Surveillance Bill of Rights
- Jon Queally, staff writer
Published on Friday, November 22, 2013 by Common Dreams

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An effort to move forward on the United Nation's draft agreement on the right to privacy in the digital age met opposition this week from the so-called "Five Eyes" nations—which includes the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand—but the efforts to dilute the pact were largely overcome by overwhelming support from the more than one hundred nations demanding stronger protections in the wake of revelations about the behavior of the NSA and other intelligence agencies.

~snip~

This week, human rights groups online privacy advocates set a joint letter to the UN urging the stronger language and protections.

~snip~

Whether or not the draft agreement is adopted, the ability of the UN to curb the worst practices of powerful intelligence agencies from one country illegally spying on the citizens of another will remain a contentious issue.

As the Guardian reports, citing a leaked draft of a U.S. briefing paper on the UN resolution, because the U.S. "does not consider its surveillance activities illegal, it does not have a problem with condemning illegal surveillance."

[idwiyo]

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