U.S. Said to Cite Islamic State Fight to Block UN Spying Text

The U.S. cited the threat posed by Islamic State to avert a United Nations condemnation of collecting metadata in an anti-surveillance resolution backed by Germany and Brazil, diplomats said.

The two countries are seeking a decision today in the General Assemblys human rights committee on a non-binding resolution on the loss of privacy from surveillance and mass collection of metadata, such as the bulk records of phone calls that are gathered by the U.S. National Security Agency and other intelligence agencies.

The Obama administration maintained that such intelligence-gathering is needed to fight the Sunni extremists in Iraq and Syria and address the threat of foreign fighters coming home to stage terrorist attacks in Europe or the U.S., said two UN diplomats involved in the negotiations who asked not to be named commenting on private consultations.

The U.S. was backed by Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the U.K., its fellow members in an intelligence cooperation agreement known as the Five Eyes. The group succeeded in softening the resolution, removing language that called the collection of metadata a highly intrusive act.

The anti-spying resolution at the UN is a joint Brazilian and German initiative begun last year after the disclosure that the NSA may have tapped German Chancellor Angela Merkels mobile phone and eavesdropped on Brazilian President Dilma Rousseffs private communications.

While the General Assembly adopted the text by consensus last year and is expected to do the same with todays version, the U.S. has shifted from the low-key approach it took a year ago to minimize the political backlash after former NSA contractor Edward Snowden disclosed U.S. surveillance at home and abroad, diplomats said.

Unlike last year, when American negotiators largely left the voicing of objections to allies, the U.S. directly expressed concerns, they said.

Metadata include the dates and time stamps of communications, such as how long calls lasted, when and where an e-mail account was accessed, or which websites were visited and when, without disclosing the contents of the communications.

The advance of Islamic State militants has eclipsed the global debate over U.S. spying at home and overseas, even in Germany, which is a member of the U.S.-led coalition against the extremists. The two diplomats said that may be what gave the U.S. room to be more forceful in negotiations.

A third UN diplomat said the U.S. may have shifted its negotiating tactics because of a separate provision in the draft resolution that says governments should abide by international human rights obligations when they require third parties, including companies, to disclose personal data.

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U.S. Said to Cite Islamic State Fight to Block UN Spying Text