A babysitter for Big Brother

Dear friends,

A movie about Edward Snowden just won best documentary at this year's Oscars -- and right now we 
have a rare chance to score another huge, global victory for protecting our privacy when the next 
Human Rights Council session starts on Monday.

Germany and Brazil are pushing to appoint an independent expert on the right to privacy to 
investigate the activities of governments -- and report the results publicly. Governments go to 
great lengths to avoid being investigated by these experts, and they've successfully shifted debate 
in other fields, including torture -- it's just what we need to ensure our right to privacy is 
enforced and respected. 

Our governments have spied on us with impunity, passing secretive laws and storing our personal 
communications; it's time to turn the tables and give our Big Brother states a babysitter. So click 
now and back the supporters with a million-strong international call delivered straight into the 
meeting room:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/hrc_privacy_sr_11/?bnKZdjb&v=54345

As Snowden just wrote, "We can't just reform the laws in one country, wipe our hands, and call it a 
day. We have to ensure that our rights aren't just being protected by letters on a sheet of paper 
somewhere, or those protections will evaporate the minute our communications get routed across a 
border. The only way to ensure the human rights of citizens around the world are being respected in 
the digital realm is to enforce them through systems and standards rather than policies and 
procedures."

The creation of this expert position - a Special Rapporteur - on privacy would do just that, 
putting international emphasis on privacy for the first time. While our governments are full of 
excuses for why they should violate our privacy, a Special Rapporteur wouldn't exist simply to stop 
them, but to make sure that the reasons they give and the way they implement policies are in line 
with our fundamental rights.

The UN General Assembly has already urged the Human Rights Council to create the position but the 
"Five Eyes" -- the UK, US, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada -- are ready to fight. But if a 
majority of the 47 countries on the Human Rights Council will stand up to them, there's nothing 
they can do. So click now to call on the Council -- it's time to give Big Brother a babysitter:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/hrc_privacy_sr_11/?bnKZdjb&v=54345

With hope,

Danny, Nataliya, and the rest of the Avaaz team


MORE INFORMATION
New UN resolution shifts momentum on privacy to Human Rights Council (Access Now), 
https://www.accessnow.org/blog/2014/11/26/new-un-resolution-shifts-momentum-on-privacy-to-human-righ...
 
(https://www.accessnow.org/blog/2014/11/26/new-un-resolution-shifts-momentum-on-privacy-to-human-rights-council)

Establish a UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Privacy (Article 19), 
http://www.article19.org/resources.php/resource/37842/en/establish-a-un-special-rapporteur-on-the-ri...

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