UN general assembly to consider resolution against electronic spying

UN officials say the body will vote this month on a resolution to guarantee the right to privacy and an end to excessive electronic surveillance. Germany and Brazil, both of which are reported to have been subjected to U.S. electronic surveillance, asked the General Assembly to adopt the resolution, the BBC reported Friday. The draft declares the illegal collection of personal data to be "a highly intrusive act" and says the assembly is "deeply concerned at human rights violations and abuses that result fro the conduct of any surveillance of communications." The non-binding resolution defines those abuses as "extraterritorial surveillance of communications, their interception, as well as the collection of personal data, in particular massive surveillance, interception and data collection." Documents released by Edward Snowden, a former contractor for the National Security Agency, have led to allegations the United States has spied on a number of foreign leaders, including Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.