Czech Parliament – close in implementing data retention directive

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar)

Czech Parliament is close to approving the data retention implementation as
an Act amending the Electronic Communications Act (127/2005 Coll.). Due to
the early introduction of the data retention obligation in the text of the
2005 Act, the current amending draft law implementing the data retention
directive is more specific.

EDRi-member IuRe intended to take the opportunity to amend the Act in order
to respect privacy. IuRe prepared a set of amendments aiming to shorten the
retention period to 6 months (currently one year), to include data that are
subject to retention into the text of the Act (currently the data are
specified only in a Minister regulation, so it can be modified without
parliamentary debates) and to prevent intelligence services from accessing
the retained data. Risk of misusing the databases for other purposes than
those specified in the directive is obvious: the intentions to allow the use
of operational and localization data by the intelligence services leaked to
the press in November 2007 and it was acknowledged recently by the
Government.

IuRe’s proposals to abolish reimbursements of data retention costs to
telecoms and ISP providers and the proposal to clearly entitle only the
Police to use the data were adopted by the Committee for Security of the
Chamber of Deputies.

Unfortunately, the proposal of the Committee for Security of the Chamber of
Deputies and other amendments proposed by individual MPs were not assumed by
the plenum at the third reading.

Following the current legislative procedure, the draft Amending Act is now
pending in the Senate, but there is no real chance to change its text.

The Czech Republic has thus implemented the data retention directive and
obliges providers to store data for one year costing tax payers around 6.5
million euro per year. The draft Amending Act leaves a backdoor for
intelligence services to use the databases. Also, the present form leaves to
the Minister of Transportation the decision on the scope of the retained
data.

More information (Czech only)
http://www.iure.org

EDRi-gram: Dispute over data retention costs in Czech Republic (15.02.2006)
http://www.edri.org/edrigram/number4.3/czechdataretention

(Contribution by Helena Svatosova, EDRi-member Iuridicum Remedium – Czech
Republic)