Data Retention (Report)

The Data Retention Directive stipulates that providers of telecommunications, mobile and internet services are obliged to retain traffic and location data of users. The purpose of this is the investigation, detection and prosecution of “serious crime”. In its Report, the Commission evaluates the Member States’ application of the Data Retention Directive, its benefit and impact. 

cepPolicyBrief

It is not comprehensible why the Commission intends to institute infringement proceedings against Member States which have not yet transposed the inadequate Directive. The disadvantages resulting from the Data Retention Directive totally outweigh its benefits. Its provisions infringe the fundamental rights to privacy, to data protection and the freedom to choose an occupation or to conduct a business.