Just to be clear (as someone working at one organization that helped develop these principles and the consensus around them), the principles were not developed or published by the U.N. They were created by a consensus of voluntary nongovernmental organizations from all around the world that work in the area of human rights.

Here, the principles were being presented to the United Nations -- not by the United Nations!

The UN do a world of good. Unfortunately, the US – which are the central actor in this surveillance scandal – do not respect the UN and other institutions of international governance.