December 3, 2014 · Blogs

Dutch government: Let’s keep data retention mostly unchanged

On 18 November, the Dutch government finally issued its response to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruling in April 2014 that invalidated the data retention directive 2006/24/EC. Despite all the debate about the legality of data retention practices, the government wants to retain its current data retention legislation. The Ministry of […]

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December 15, 2010

Data Retention Directive evaluation: expect the unexpected?

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Evaluierung der Vorratsdatenspeicherung: Das Unerwartete erwarten? | http://www.unwatched.org/node/2438] The evaluation of the controversial Data Retention Directive takes an unexpected turn, for the worse. At a crucial one-day conference in Brussels on 3 December 2010, aimed at gathering input for the evaluation, long-term critic of the Directive Commissioner Malmström […]

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July 15, 2009

Irish Data Retention Bill published

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Irisches Vorratsdatenspeicherungsgesetz veröffentlicht| http://www.unwatched.org/node/1465] On 6 July, the Communications (Retention of Data) Bill 2009 was presented to the Irish Parliament. The Bill is intended to implement the Data Retention Directive and if enacted will establish a two year retention period for telephone data with a one year retention […]

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June 30, 2010

Data retention – time for evidence-based decision making

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Vorratsdatenspeicherung – Zeit für evidenzbasierte Entscheidungen | http://www.unwatched.org/node/2031] In June 2010 the European Parliament adopted a farcical “written declaration” ostensibly on the creation of an “early warning system” to fight pedophiles. Funded by unknown sources, the MEPs in charge (Zaborska from the Czech Republic and Motti from Italy) […]

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June 20, 2012

ENDitorial: Data retention – faint heart never won fair lady

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [ENDitorial: Vorratsdatenspeicherung – den Mutigen gehört die Welt | https://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_10.12_ENDitorial_Vorratsdatenspeicherung_den_Mutigen_gehoert_die_Welt?pk_campaign=edri&pk_kwd=20120620] Six years ago, as a result of pressure from the UK, the European Union adopted the Data Retention Directive. The measure was intended to harmonise the EU single market for telecommunications, requiring all EU operators to retain data […]

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May 4, 2011

Data Retention has arrived in Austria

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Vorratsdatenspeicherung erreicht Österreich | http://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_9.9_Vorratsdatenspeicherung_erreicht_Oesterreich] While the Czech Constitutional Court has recently declared the national data retention legislation unconstitutional, the Legal Services of the German Bundestag has found it impossible to ensure the legality of the Data Retention Directive and the European Commission itself still struggles to prove […]

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September 21, 2015 · Blogs

European Commission & Data Retention – a faulty basis for decision-making*?

Due to the sensitive nature of this summary, we shared it with the European Commission to allow for any corrections or clarifications that were deemed necessary before publication. The draft was updated on the basis of the feedback that was received, but not all suggestions from the Commission services were accepted by us. As a […]

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May 7, 2014 · Blogs

Slovak Constitutional Court suspends data retention legislation

The European Court of Justice ruled on 8 April, in a case brought before the Court by EDRi member Digital Rights Ireland, together with the Austrian Working Group on Data Retention, that the Data Retention Directive contravenes European law. On 23 April 2014, the Slovak Constitutional Court preliminary suspended Slovak implementation of the Directive as […]

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April 3, 2025 · Blogs | Privacy and data protection | Data protection standards | Surveillance and data retention

CJEU saved the HADOPI: what implications for the future of data retention in the EU?

The Court of Justice of the European Union judgement on the HADOPI case (C-470/21) is significant for the ongoing debate on mandatory retention of metadata, such as traffic and location data. EDRi provides key takeaways and what they mean for the upcoming data retention legislation by the European Commission.

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November 5, 2009 · Blogs

Petition against data retention in Belgium

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Petition gegen Vorratsdatenspeicherung in Belgien | http://www.unwatched.org/node/1568] Macedonian: [Петиција против задржување на податоци во Белгија | http://www.metamorphosis.org.mk/edri/peticija-protiv-zadrzhuvanje-na-podatoci-vo-belgija-2.html] A number of Belgian NGOs representing Internet users, lawyers, journalists, human rights activists and others on 26 October 2009 started a petition against the Belgian transposition of the EU Data Retention […]

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January 26, 2011

Romanian NGOs demand stopping data retention in Europe

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Rumänische NGOs fordern einen Stopp der Vorratsdatenspeicherung in Europa | http://www.unwatched.org/node/2553] In an open letter sent to the European institutions, several Romanian NGOs, including EDRi-member APTI Romania, demanded stopping data retention in Europe, following the decisions of the Constitutional Courts in Romania and Germany. The letter asks the […]

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January 16, 2013 · Blogs

Data Retention in Austria: Constitutional Court turns to the CJEU

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [VDS in Österreich: Verfassungsgericht wendet sich an Europäischen Gerichtshof | https://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_11.1_VDS_in_Oesterreich_Verfassungsgericht_wendet_sich_ein_Europaeischen_Gerichtshof?pk_campaign=edri&pk_kwd=20130125] The Austrian Constitutional Court has reservations that the EU Directive on the Retention of Data could be incompatible with the European Charter of Fundamental Rights. For this reason, the 14 constitutional judges have addressed the Court of […]

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