The right to privacy in the digital age A/RES/79/175 enterprises avoid causing or contributing to adverse human rights impacts through their own activities, and address such impacts as they occur, and that business enterprises seek to prevent or mitigate adverse human rights impacts that are directly linked to their operations, products or services by their business relationships, even if they have not contributed to those impacts, Noting that the rapid pace of technological development enables individuals all over the world to use new information and communications technologies that empower people, improve lives, strengthen justice and boost productivity, and at the same time enhances the capacity of Governments, business enterprises and individuals to undertake surveillance, interception, hacking and data collection, which may violate or abuse human rights, in particular the right to privacy, 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, and is therefore an issue of increasing concern, Noting also that violations and abuses of the right to privacy in the digital age can affect all individuals, with particular effects on women, children, in particular girls, persons with disabilities and older persons, as well as those in vulnerable situations, Recognizing that new and emerging digital technologies, in particular assistive digital technologies, can especially contribute to the full enjoyment of human rights by persons with disabilities, and that these technologies should be designed in consultation with them and with appropriate safeguards to protect their rights, including their right to privacy, Recognizing also that the promotion of and respect for the right to privacy are important to the prevention of violence, including gender-based violence, abuse and sexual harassment, in particular against women and children, as well as any form of discrimination, which can occur in digital and online spaces and includes cyberbullying and cyberstalking, Noting that women and girls experience specific violations and abuses of their right to privacy, both online and offline, as well as violations or abuses that have gender-specific impacts, and recognizing that the way in which many digital platforms are designed, commercialized, maintained and governed can give rise to disinformation and hate speech, which can exacerbate gender stereotypes and result in various forms of violence, including gender-based violence, and expressing concern about the continuity and interrelation between offline and online violence, harassment and discrimination against women and girls, and condemning the increase of such acts that are committed, assisted, aggravated or amplified by the use of technology, Noting also that children can be particularly vulnerable to abuses and violations of their right to privacy, Noting further that States parties should implement the Convention on the Rights of the Child 24 in relation to the digital environment, including the importance of privacy to children’s agency, dignity and safety, and for the exercise of their rights, Reaffirming the human 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, and recognizing that the exercise of the right to privacy is important for the realization of the right to freedom of expression and to hold opinions without interference and __________________ 24 24-24216 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1577, No. 27531. 3/12