Human Rights in the Digital World

After reading the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations, a number of thoughts and realizations began to take shape. It was interesting, especially for the case with this Comm 360 class on digital ethics, because the Declaration does not focus on technology or the digital world. This forced me to draw some parallels between the document and how it might apply to the digital realm. This is a pretty important step to take, not just for me, but for everyone in general. There is no real document or declaration that states the rights and safeties guaranteed to us online. It's almost mind boggling to think abut really. This UN declaration, from way back in the mid 1900s certainly still applies to this day, but that doesn't mean our daily lives have stayed the same for the past 60+ years. Things have changed a lot since then. Back when the Declaration was written, our physical lives were our entire lives, and this document tended to the rights guaranteed to us in these physical, entire lives; Everyone is created equal, we can't be tortured, no discrimination, right to privacy, etc.
When you begin to realize how much more our lives are being intertwined with the digital world, it's important to make sure the rights guaranteed to us in the real world can also apply there as well. I feel that, of course, everyone should have certain rights online and these rights should be the same for everyone, without regard to economic status or anything else for that matter. I personally believe the right to privacy is the main concern. You should be able to decide who gets to see what you put out online, and more importantly, who does NOT get to see what you put out there. We have a right to privacy guaranteed to us, yet this right somehow does not extend to our digital lives. Right in the document it says that we shall not be subjected to arbitrary breaches of privacy. This brings up the whole NSA issue. They may claim that they were listening and tapping anyone in the country for terrorist threats as their reason to break this privacy, but how can it be deemed OK to say that about ANY one in the country. There is no legitimate reason to just listen in on people at random. That makes the reason arbitrary and therefore breaking the right given to us.
In my field of study and hopefully my career field, set of rights would be greatly helpful. As a Film and Digital Media major, it would be nice to be able to create things I have an interest in, while at the same time, not doing anyone else harm. Also, just being in a field that is digitally dominated, it would just be helpful to have a set of rules, rights, and responsibilities.