EU to Force Telecoms to Keep Records
An AP newswire article, via Yahoo! News, reports that:
The European Union agreed Wednesday to legally require telecommunications companies to keep records of phone and e-mail traffic for up to one year as part of the bloc's anti-terrorist campaign.
The decision by 25 EU justice ministers comes after years of European debate over the privacy and cost concerns of data retention. Officials said the ministers agreed phone companies must keep records for 12 months and Internet providers for six months.
Britain, which holds the rotating EU presidency, has pushed for a data retention order as part of anti-terror efforts in the wake of the deadly bombings in London in July.
Data retention laws vary from country to country within the bloc. Fifteen EU countries have no such laws. But Italy and Ireland require telecommunications data be kept for three and four years, respectively; those tougher standards will remain under Wednesday decision.
posted by Fergie @ 10/12/2005 07:19:00 AM
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