Writers urge the UN to pass a bill of digital rights

Writers including Cory Doctorow, Margaret Atwood and Kazuo Ishiguro, along with hundreds of authors, have written to the United Nations demanding an international bill of digital rights.

The letter is short and sweet. The letter argues for the "fundamental" human right of privacy online.

"A person under surveillance is no longer free; a society under surveillance is no longer a democracy," they wrote. "To maintain any validity, our democratic rights must apply in virtual as in real space."

In light of the ongoing leaks from former NSA worker Edward Snowden, negative reactions have arisen about the spying by the NSA. Earlier this week, tech companies that often handed over the data, to include Apple, Google and Microsoft, wrote to President Barack Obama calling for changes to surveillance laws.