Romanian data retention law suspendend by the Government

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Deutsch: [Rumänisches Gesetz zur Vorratsdatenspeicherung von der Regierung aufgehoben | http://www.unwatched.org/node/1308]

In a sudden and unexpected move, the Romanian Government has decided on 25
February 2009 to suspend the application of the data retention law until the
end of the year – 31 December 2009.

The official reason from the press release of the Ministry of Communications
and Information Society are related to the:

– complications that the law brings to the penal cases, especially in the
initial phases of information gathering;

– the area of the crimes for which the retained data is accessible is
contested (by whom? -n.a.);

– not all of the communications providers may ensure the management of the
retained data;

– not all the providers are ready to respect the legal provisions regarding
the confidentiality of the accessed data.

Even though the law was in a public consultation (but dormant-type phase)
for almost 9 months, it seems that the Government is realizing that they
didn’t get the “perfect text”. The privacy concerns do not appear in the
press release, but a better “information campaign” on the law and its
consequences is mentioned somewhere in a work plan.

It is still unclear how the “suspension” will work. It seems that the
Government would like to issue a new emergency ordinance that will postpone
the application of the law. It remains to be seen if the new text of the law
supported by the Ministry will be better or worst than the present one.

Application of the data retention law – postponed until the end of 2009
(only in Romanian, 25.02.2009)
http://economie.hotnews.ro/stiri-telecom-5447913-aplicarea-legii-stocare-datelor-convorbirilor-telefonice-internet-suspendata-pana-sfarsitul-lui-2009.htm

Minsitry of Communications and Information Society (only in Romanian,
25.02.2009)
http://media.hotnews.ro/media_server1/document-2009-02-25-5447934-0-comunicat-mcsi.doc