Members of an international coalition of about 250 academics co-signed...

Members of an international coalition of about 250 academics co-signed a letter released Friday urging governments to curb their “unprecedented level of surveillance” (http://bit.ly/1atMQ11). “This has to stop,” the letter says, citing the surveillance methods revealed through Edward Snowden’s leaked documents. “The right to privacy is a fundamental right. It is protected by international treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights,” the letter said. Without giving specific policy prescriptions, “the signatories of this declaration call upon nation states to take action. ... Intelligence agencies must be subjected to transparency and accountability,” it said.