Originally posted on TechCrunch:
A 32-page report into mass surveillance by a top European rights body has warned that digital dragnets set up by U.S. government intelligence agencies, and some of the U.S.' allies in Europe and elsewhere, are endangering fundamental human rights - such as the right to privacy, to freedom of information and expression, to freedom of religion, and to the right to a fair trial.
NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden gave evidence to the committee last year, including revealing that U.S. government intelligence agencies spied on NGOs and human rights organizations.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) report also expresses deep concern about threats to Internet security by what it describes as "the practice of certain intelligence agencies", as disclosed in the Snowden files, of "seeking out systematically, using and even creating 'back doors' and other weaknesses in security standards and implementation, which could easily be exploited also by terrorists and cyber-terrorists or other...
