The Right to Privacy in the Digital Age

A/HRC/RES/34/7No PDF available

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 3Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, published in 2017.

What other versions does this mandate have?

11 versions · 2014–2024

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/79/175

2024A/RES/79/175The right to privacy in the digital ageLatestCompare with previous version
2023A/RES/77/211The right to privacy in the digital ageCompare with previous version
2020A/RES/75/176The right to privacy in the digital ageCompare with previous version
2019A/RES/73/179The right to privacy in the digital ageCompare with previous version
2019A/HRC/RES/42/15The right to privacy in the digital ageCompare with previous version

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

What subjects does this mandate have?

14 topics

Business Enterprises Communication Technology Conferences Corporate Social Responsibility Crime Prevention Data Protection Digital Literacy Digital Technology Electronic Surveillance Information Technology Internet Laws and Regulations Legal Remedies Right to Privacy

What does this mandate say?

23 operative paragraphs

Reaffirms the right to privacy, according to which no one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or her privacy, family, home or correspondence, and the right to the protection of the law against such interference, as set out in article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;

Recalls that States should ensure that any interference with the right to privacy is consistent with the principles of legality, necessity and proportionality;

Recognizes the global and open nature of the Internet and the rapid advancement in information and communications technology as a driving force in accelerating progress towards development in its various forms, including in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals;

Affirms that the same rights that people have offline must also be protected online, including the right to privacy;

Calls upon all States:

To respect and protect the right to privacy, including in the context of digital communications;

To take measures to put an end to violations of the right to privacy and to create the conditions to prevent such violations, including by ensuring that relevant national legislation complies with their obligations under international human rights law;

To review their procedures, practices and legislation regarding the surveillance of communications, their interception and the collection of personal data, including mass surveillance, interception and collection, with a view to upholding the right to privacy by ensuring the full and effective implementation of all their obligations under international human rights law;

To establish or maintain existing independent, effective, adequately resourced and impartial judicial, administrative and/or parliamentary domestic oversight mechanisms capable of ensuring transparency, as appropriate, and accountability for State surveillance of communications, their interception and the collection of personal data;

To provide individuals whose right to privacy has been violated by unlawful or arbitrary surveillance with access to an effective remedy, consistent with international human rights obligations;

To develop or maintain and implement adequate legislation, with effective sanctions and remedies, that protects individuals against violations and abuses of the right to privacy, namely through the unlawful or arbitrary collection, processing, retention or use of personal data by individuals, Governments, business enterprises and private organizations;

To further develop or maintain, in this regard, preventive measures and remedies for violations and abuses regarding the right to privacy in the digital age that may affect all individuals, including where there are particular effects for women, as well as children and persons in vulnerable situations or marginalized groups;

To promote quality education and lifelong education opportunities for all to foster, inter alia, digital literacy and the technical skills required to protect effectively their privacy;

To refrain from requiring business enterprises to take steps that interfere with the right to privacy in an arbitrary or unlawful way;

To consider appropriate measures that would enable business enterprises to adopt adequate voluntary transparency measures with regard to requests by State authorities for access to private user data and information;

To develop or maintain legislation, preventive measures and remedies addressing harm from the sale or multiple resale or other corporate sharing of personal data without the individual’s free, explicit and informed consent;

Encourages all States to promote an open, secure, stable, accessible and peaceful information and communications technology environment based on respect for international law, including the obligations enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and human rights instruments;

Encourages all relevant stakeholders to participate in informal dialogues about the right to privacy, and welcomes the contribution of the Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy to this process;

Calls upon all business enterprises to meet their responsibility to respect human rights in accordance with the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Implementing the United Nations “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework, including the right to privacy in the digital age, and to inform users about the collection, use, sharing and retention of their data that may affect their right to privacy and to establish transparency and policies that allow for the informed consent of users, as appropriate;

Encourages business enterprises to work towards enabling technical solutions to secure and protect the confidentiality of digital communications, which may include measures for encryption and anonymity, and calls upon States not to interfere with the use of such technical solutions, with any restrictions thereon complying with States’ obligations under international human rights law;

Requests the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to organize, before the thirty-seventh session of the Human Rights Council, an expert workshop with the purpose of identifying and clarifying principles, standards and best practices regarding the promotion and protection of the right to privacy in the digital age, including the responsibility of business enterprises in this regard, to prepare a report thereon and to submit it to the Council at its thirty-ninth session;

Encourages States, relevant United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, intergovernmental organizations, treaty bodies, the special procedures, regional human rights mechanisms, civil society organizations, academia, national human rights institutions, business enterprises, the technical community and other relevant stakeholders to participate actively in the expert workshop;

Decides to continue its consideration of the matter under the same agenda item.

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What does this mandate say?

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