Data Retention Update

A year ago, the European ministers of justice and home affairs struck a deal with the European parliament and the commission according to which personal data regarding the communications, movements and use of media of all 365 mio. EU citizens is to be collected and stored for up to two years. While the EU directive 2006/24 EG on data retention has entered into force in May 2006, the struggle is continuing. The panel of three key anti-data retention activists will present to you the latest political and legal developments in this field in Europe and overseas.

Two antagonistic trends can be observed: On the one hand, some member states such as Denmark have started the implementation process, as expected with a broader scope of data to be stored than is required by the directive. The United States are also moving towards data retention, and hardware vendors are preparing to sell the necessary surveillance equipment to telcos and ISPs. On the other hand, the opposition against this step towards a police state is growing. A number of EU member states have announced that they will postpone the retention of internet traffic data. The Irish government is challenging the entire directive before the European Court of Justice. Privacy groups are preparing legal, political and technical challenges. The panel of three key anti-data retention activists will present to you the latest political and legal developments in this field in Europe and overseas.