General retention of user's data relating to electronic communication in breach with Directive on privacy and electronic communications
21-12-2016 Print this page
National legislation providing for general and indiscriminate retention of all traffic and location data of subscribers and registered users relating to all means of electronic communication in breach with Directive on privacy and electronic communications.
"Article 15(1) of Directive 2002/58/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 July 2002 concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector (Directive on privacy and electronic communications), as amended by Directive 2009/136/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2009, read in the light of Articles 7, 8 and 11 and Article 52(1) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, must be interpreted as precluding national legislation which, for the purpose of fighting crime, provides for general and indiscriminate retention of all traffic and location data of all subscribers and registered users relating to all means of electronic communication."
National legislation that gives competent national authorities access to retained data without providing that access is only granted to fight serious crime, not subject to prior review by a court or independent administrative authority and where there is no requirement that the data concerned should be retained within the European Union is in breach with Directive on privacy and electronic communications.
"Article 15(1) of Directive 2002/58, as amended by Directive 2009/136, read in the light of Articles 7, 8 and 11 and Article 52(1) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, must be interpreted as precluding national legislation governing the protection and security of traffic and location data and, in particular, access of the competent national authorities to the retained data, where the objective pursued by that access, in the context of fighting crime, is not restricted solely to fighting serious crime, where access is not subject to prior review by a court or an independent administrative authority, and where there is no requirement that the data concerned should be retained within the European Union."
IPPT20161221, CJEU, Tele2 Sverige and Tom Watson
C-2013/15 - ECLI:EU:C:2016:970
