Data retention directive: Commissioner Malmström's statement on Court judgment
9 Apr 2014 10:39 AM
"The judgment of the Court brings clarity and
confirms the critical conclusions in terms of proportionality of the
Commission's evaluation report of 2011 on the implementation of the data
retention directive. The European Commission will now carefully
asses the verdict and its impacts. The Commission will take its work forward in
light of progress made in relation to the revision of the e-Privacy directive
and taking into account the negotiations on the data protection
framework," said Cecilia Malmström, Commissioner for Home
Affairs.
Background
The
Data Retention Directive was adopted in the aftermath of the terroristic
attacks in Madrid in 2004 and London in 2005 as there was a sense of urgency to
harmonize the European efforts to investigate and prosecute the most serious
crimes.
The
Directive requires Member States to ensure that telecommunication operators
retain traffic and location data generated or processed by service and network
providers for the purpose of investigation, detection and prosecution of
serious crimes, as defined by national law. The data must be retained for a
minimum of six months to a maximum of two years (to be decided by Member States
in transposing the Directive into national laws).
In
2011 the Commission issued an evaluation report as required by Article 14 of
the Directive. The report concluded that data retention has proven useful in
criminal investigations against the harm caused by crime and terrorism, also
including critical conclusions on the design of the Directive in particular
when it comes to the balance between security and respect of the privacy of EU
citizens.
For more information
Frequently Asked Questions: The Data Retention
Directive:
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-14-269_en.htm
2011 European Commission Evaluation Report on the Data
Retention Directive:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2011:0225:FIN:e
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