Data Retention Directive

European Union directive:
Directive 2006/24/EC
Directive on the retention of data generated or processed in connection with the provision of publicly available electronic communications services or of public communications networks
Made by	European Parliament & Council
Made under	Article 95 TEC
Journal reference	L 105, pp. 54-63
History
Made	15 March 2006
Came into force	3 May 2006
Preparative texts
Other legislation
Amends	Directive 2002/58/EC
Status: Current legislation

The Data Retention Directive, more formally "Directive 2006/24/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2006 on the retention of data generated or processed in connection with the provision of publicly available electronic communications services or of public communications networks and amending Directive 2002/58/EC" is a controversial Directive issued by the European Union and relates to Telecommunications data retention. According to the directive, member states will have to store citizens' telecommunications data for six to 24 months stipulating a maximum time period. Under the directive the police and security agencies will be able to request access to details such as IP address and time of use of every email, phone call and text message sent or received. A request to access the information will be possible only with a court order.

The Data Retention Directive has sparked serious concerns from physicians, journalists, privacy and human rights groups, unions, IT security firms and legal experts.

See also

• Written declaration 29, an adopted proposition signed by Anna Záborská and Tiziano Motti to extend the Data Retention Directive to monitor search engine traffic
• Telecommunications data retention

Further reading

• The Court of Justice of the European Communities: Action brought on 6 July 2006 — Ireland v Council of the European Union, European Parliament
• Bignami, Francesca (2007), "Privacy and Law Enforcement in the European Union: The Data Retention Directive", Chicago Journal of International Law 8 (1): 233–256, http://eprints.law.duke.edu/1602/ .
• Breyer, Patrick (2005), "Telecommunications Data Retention and Human Rights: The Compatibility of Blanket Traffic Data Retention with the ECHR", European Law Journal 11 (3): 365–375, doi:10.1111/j.1468-0386.2005.00264.x .
• Stampfel, Gerald; Gansterer, Wilfried; Ilger, Michael (2008), Data Retention - The EU Directive 2006/24/EC from a Technological Perspective, Wien: Medien und Recht, ISBN 3900741530 .
• de Vries, Bellanova, de Hert, Gutwirth: The German Constitutional Court Judgement on Data Retention
• Feiler, Lukas (2010), "The Legality of the Data Retention Directive in Light of the Fundamental Rights to Privacy and Data Protection", European Journal of Law and Technology 1 (3), http://ejlt.org//article/view/29/75 .

External links

• Text of the directive and national provisions on data retention communicated by the member states. (HTML and PDF)
• Overview of implementation in the EU
• Breyer, P.: "Telecommunications Data Retention and Human Rights: The Compatibility of Blanket Traffic Data Retention with the ECHR". European Law Journal, May 2005. (PDF-File, 82 KB)
• Centre for European Policy Studies (CEP): Policy Brief on Data Retention (2011]. (PDF-File)
• Crump, C.: Data retention: privacy, anonymity, and accountability online (2003). 56 Stanford Law Review 191-229. (PDF-File)
• European Digital Rights: EDRI news tracking page on data retention (current)
• Feiler, L.: The Data Retention Directive (2008). Seminar paper. (PDF-File)
• Ganj, C.: The Lives of Other Judges: Effects of the Romanian Data Retention Judgment (December 4, 2009). (PDF-File)
• Goemans, C. and Dumortier, J.: "Mandatory retention of traffic data in the EU: possible impact on privacy and on-line anonymity. Digital Anonymity and the Law, series IT & Law/2, T.M.C. Asser Press, 2003, p 161-183. (PDF-File)
• Milford, P.: "The Data Retention Directive: too fast, too furious a response? (2008). LLM Dissertation – Southampton Business School. (PDF-File)
• Mitrou, L.: "Communications Data Retention: A Pandora’s Box for Rights and Liberties?" From Digital Privacy: Theory, Technologies, and Practices edited by Alessandro Acquisti, Stefanos Gritzalis, Costos Lambrinoudakis and Sabrina di Vimercati. Auerbach Publications, 2008. (PDF-File)
• Morariu, M.: "How Secure is to Remain Private? On the Controversies of the European Data Retention Directive" (2009). Amsterdam Social Science, Vol. 1(2): p. 46-65. (PDF-File)
• Statewatch: The surveillance of telecommunications in the EU.
• Walker, C., & Akdeniz, Y.: "Anti-Terrorism laws and data retention: war is over?". Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly, 54(2), Summer edition 2003, 159-182. (PDF-File, 97 KB)
• Working Group on Data Retention: List of documents relating to communications data retention in the EU (current)