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 by Germany and Brazil builds on a landmark text presented last year after revelations by Edward Snowden of widespread surveillance by the US and British governments.
It followed weeks of tough negotiations with Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and the US - members of the so-called Five Eyes intelligence alliance - who sought to limit the resolution's scope.
The five countries are not among the 65 co-sponsors of the bill.
While the resolution is not-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 legislation that will ensure their citizens' right to privacy online is protected.
"Where mass surveillance technology is used, a situation can easily be created where no privacy of communications on the internet exists at all," said German ambassador Harald Braun on Tuesday.
Braun warned that without proper checks, "we risk turning into Orwellian states" where citizens are being constantly monitored, he told the General Assembly's committee on human rights.
The resolution was adopted by consensus by the committee and now goes before the full Assembly in December.
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 also 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 is 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 and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.
With the international focus now on defeating Islamists in Iraq and Syria, opponents of the resolution argued that governments must not be hamstrung in using surveillance and communications interception to prevent terror acts.
Australia and Britain argued that in addressing online privacy, the UN must strike a balance between respect for individual rights and the obligations of governments to protect their 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 on the way forward.
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