Electronic surveillance

UN pushes for cyber surveillance treaty, but controversy may arise

As cyber security threats around the globe rise, the United Nations is pushing to come up with an international treaty to protect people's data from government surveillance.

Joe Cannataci, a U.N. independent expert on privacy, authored a report that said the usual privacy safeguards were outdated and needed to be changed for a new era.

“The issue of governmental surveillance deserves more attention than ever," Cannataci said in a statement. "I am deeply concerned that the right to privacy will simply not experience a full transition to the digital age. In general, laws have been drafted and rushed through the legislative process of States with clear political majorities to legitimize practices that should never have been implemented.”