European Parliament opposes Data Retention Law

MEPs up in arms about data privacy law

04.05.2005 - 17:35 CET | By Honor Mahony

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - MEPs are set to ask that a controversial proposal on data retention be withdrawn following hefty criticism within the Brussels assembly and by industry.

The proposal to retain data for up to three years from telephone calls and e-mails as part of an overall fight against crime and terrorism was put forward last year by France, the UK, Sweden and Ireland.

At the time it ran into criticism from other member states, particularly Germany, but is now also feeling the heat from MEPs.

A draft report by liberal German MEP Alexander Alvaro condemns the proposal by questioning "whether it is compatible with the principle of presumption of innocence", adding that no thought has been put into either how much it will cost or how it will be possible to retain so much extra data. ... Full Story on EUObserver