The United Nations human rights council is to establish the role of a rapporteur to cover privacy issues in a landmark decision that helps establish the idea that freedom from excessive surveillance is a fundamental right.

The move is a direct consequence of Edward Snowden's revelations about the scale of electronic monitoring by the US National Security Agency (NSA) and Britain's GCHQ.

The resolution, passed by the council in Geneva on Thursday, was spearheaded by Germany and Brazil, two of the countries where public debate over surveillance has been most intense as a consequence of the Snowden disclosures.