A/RES/79/175 The right to privacy in the digital age Stressing also the need to ensure that national security and public health measures, including the use of technology to monitor and contain the spread of infectious diseases, are in full compliance with the obligations of States under international human rights law and adhere to the principles of lawfulness, legality, legitimacy with regard to the aim pursued, necessity and proportionality and the need to protect human rights, including the right to privacy, and personal data in the response to health or other emergencies, Noting the importance of protecting and respecting the right of individuals to privacy when designing, developing or deploying technological means in response to disasters, epidemics and pandemics, and recalling in this regard the importance of protecting health-related and other personal data, noting also that new emerging digital technologies can contribute to the recovery from global health emergencies, 1. 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; 2. Recognizes the global and open nature of the Internet and the rapid advancement in information and communications technologies as a driving force in accelerating progress towards development in its various forms, including in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals; 3. Affirms that the same rights that people have offline must also be protected online, including the right to privacy, with special regard given to the protection of children; 4. Recalls that States should ensure that any interference with the right to privacy is consistent with the principles of legality, necessity and proportionality; 5. 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; 6. Acknowledges that the conception, design, use, deployment and further development of new and emerging technologies, such as those that involve artificial intelligence, may have an impact on the enjoyment of the right to privacy and other human rights, and that the risks to these rights can and should be avoided and minimized by adapting or adopting adequate regulation or other appropriate mechanisms, in accordance with applicable obligations under international human rights law, for the conception, design, development and deployment of new and emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, by taking measures to ensure a safe, transparent, accountable, secure and high quality data infrastructure and by developing human rights-based auditing mechanisms and redress mechanisms and establishing human oversight; 7. Stresses that remote biometric surveillance systems, including facial recognition, when used without proper and specific safeguards, raise serious concerns with regard to their proportionality, given their highly intrusive nature and broad impact on large numbers of people; 8. Calls upon all States: (a) To respect and protect the right to privacy, both online and offline, including in the context of digital communications and new and emerging technologies; 8/12 24-24216