Data protection ruling by the European Court of Justice: general data retention is not permitted – politics

Comprehensive and blanket storage of internet and telephone connection data is not permitted according to the European Court of Justice (ECJ). Exceptions are possible when it comes to the fight against serious crime or the specific case of a threat to national security, the ECJ announced in a judgment published on Tuesday.

The Luxembourg judges thus strengthened civil rights – at the same time, supporters of data retention can also hope. However, the decision does not yet have a direct effect on the German regulations on the controversial data retention. A separate procedure is running here.

For years there has been a dispute over the subject in several EU countries between security authorities and politicians on the one hand and civil rights activists and consumer advocates on the other. Proponents argue that to protect national security and fight serious crimes, investigators must be able to access stored telecommunications data.

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On the other hand, the critics fear strong interference with fundamental rights if the companies have to secure massive amounts of connection data for their customers – without there being any concrete suspicion.

Judgment could change discussion in Germany

With its decision, the highest European court essentially referred to cases from France, Belgium and Great Britain, in which the national courts had asked their colleagues from Luxembourg for an assessment.

But because of its fundamental nature, the current decision of the ECJ could also influence the discussion in Germany about the irritating issue. The question is whether individual EU states may impose general data storage obligations on the operators of electronic communications services.

Similar ECJ ruling in 2016

In June 2017, the German Federal Network Agency temporarily suspended the storage requirement for Internet providers and telephone providers – just a few days before the planned regulations came into force. The reason at that time was a ruling by the Higher Administrative Court in North Rhine-Westphalia, according to which the storage of location and traffic data regardless of suspicion is not compatible with European law.

The highest courts in Germany and the EU have had objections several times – and overturned the requirements. The ECJ ruled in 2016 that “indiscriminate” storage of telephone and internet connection data was not compatible with EU law. (dpa)