Polish plans for 15 years mandatory data retention

In Poland, the parliamentary leader of the new social-right governing party ‘Law and Justice’, Przemyslaw Gosiewski, has called for a new law to introduce mandatory telephony data retention for 15 years. His call followed an article the day before, on 22 November 2005, in the leading newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza with a cry from local investigators that they are unable to effectively prosecute corruption without telephony billing data from the last 4 years.

Poland only just formed a new minority-government after the elections, but the new conservative government does not seem to have a clear plan on this issue. They seem to have just responded spontaneously, but with a large parliamentary majority as the unfortunate result.

Gosiewski can count on support from two smaller populist parties: Andrzej Lepper’s ‘Selfdefense’ and the extreme nationalists from the ‘Union of Polish Families’. Both parties are most eager to prove that most (rich) entrepreneurs are thieves.

To make matters even worse, the conservative-liberal opposition from Platforma Obywatelska (Citizens Platform) also did not object to this proposal, and neglected to present itself as a defender of civil rights. The platform considers itself to be the ‘almost governing’ party, with a tendency to support all moves towards a so called ‘stronger state’.

EDRI-observer ISOC Poland is trying to fight the proposal and has already contacted several ministers. They aim to also engage the Polish Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection and the Inspector General for the Protection of Personal Data.

File on data retention proposals (in Polish)
http://prawo.vagla.pl/retencja_danych

Polish – English translation service
http://www.translate.pl/

(Contribution by Piotr Vagla Waglowski and Wladyslaw Majewski, EDRI-observer ISOC Poland)